Greetings!
I'm Dr. Joe. I develop high-quality instructional materials to provide information that others need in order to do their jobs competently and confidently. I take a Cognitive Psychological approach to developing instructional materials, and I specialize in
Design for Effective Communication of Technical Information (DECTI). I subordinate my various talents, knowledge, and skills to this Cognitive Psychological approach.
I have broad experience developing instructional and technical materials in a variety of industries, primarily in the manufacturing sector. Subject matter has ranged from automated paper-making and multi-station printing systems, CNC machine tools, electronic medical-diagnostic systems, material-handling and conveyor systems, automated chemical-processing systems, and rocket-engine controllers. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Education, a Master’s degree in Teaching and Learning with Technology, and a PhD in General Psychology with Emphasis in Cognition and Instruction. I also have formal training in technical photography and in instructional design.
Toward a Successful Project
The End User
Like every one of us, the end user is a living, breathing human being trying to do a job, earn a living, and support his or her family. I identify and empathize with the end user! In keeping with Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory, I respect and support the end user’s fundamental psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. By developing technical and instructional materials with respect for these needs, I strive to appeal to the end user’s intrinsic motivation to learn and to perform competently and confidently. To the extent that the end user’s motivation is extrinsic, however, I try to facilitate the movement of his or her behavioral regulation from external to integrated, whereby he or she increasingly recognizes his or her own locus of causality as internal.
At the inception of a documentation or training project, it is essential to determine the needs of the end user. What does he or she likely already know, and what will he or she likely need to have explained? What problems has the end user encountered when attempting to do the job in the past? What resources are available to help the end user master the subject matter and gain proficiency?
Identifying Source Information
Even an expert technical writer or instructional designer cannot perform well in a vacuum any better than anyone else. He or she typically begins a project with limited pre-existing knowledge of the product or system to be covered. In order to get the project off on the right foot and develop high-quality instructional materials on schedule and on budget, it is therefore essential that source information be provided in a timely manner. Waiting interminably for requested information takes far longer than completing the actual work itself and severely limits what remains possible as the deadline approaches.
Subject-matter experts invariably have urgent conflicting priorities on their plates, and supporting documentation or instructional efforts tends to be relegated to the back burner. It is therefore necessary for management to set a high priority on the instructional project and to make certain that all of the members on the project team are fully aware both of that priority and of the deadline.
Begin by providing contextual information to get the technical writer or instructional designer oriented to the product or system. Allow informational meetings to be recorded so that the technical writer or instructional designer can refer back to them to recall precisely what was said. To enable the technical writer or instructional designer to ferret out details with minimal assistance, provide direct access to repositories of reference information, such as engineering drawings and data bases (as well as navigational instructions for unfamiliar systems).
Beginning the Project
Before defining a scope of work for the project, it is necessary to analyze the audience and the subject matter to be covered. Then an outline of topics and subtopics can be constructed, pre-existing graphics that can be repurposed should be identified, and additional graphics to be generated can be determined. Next, the amount of time required to draft the text, generate new graphics, and integrate the various elements into a coherent form can be estimated. Only then can a realistic schedule and deadline be established. As experience shows, however, circumstances do not always allow the luxury of this natural progression to unfold, and a more expedient route must sometimes be pursued.
Precisely how much text and how many illustrations will best enable end users to assimilate, comprehend, and apply the subject matter can seldom be anticipated at the inception of a project. Sometimes more is needed, sometimes less, and sometimes something completely different from what was initially conceptualized. It is therefore prudent to allow the technical writer or instructional designer enough latitude to make such determinations as the project progresses. He or she will discuss these issues with the other members of the project team and come to a mutual agreement.
