COMMUNICATION - Artifact 4: Quick References

     Writing effective instructions would seem to be a skill that comes with the profession of an instructional designer. But what makes instructions effective? This is the secret of systematic instructional design: The message needs to strike at the core of the issue and clearly communicate the solution in a way that is both easy to understand and appealing.

Context
  • These quick reference guides were created as part of a dissemination strategy to promote the use of a relatively new course evaluation system at the Florida State University.
  • Initial versions of the guides were designed as a class project for EME6636, Change Management, taught by Dr. D. Ely in Spring 2005. The idea caught on and the guides were extended to also include functionality that was developed later.
  
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Conditions
  • While the use of the online course evaluation system was already wide-spread at the time the quick references were designed, our office was struggling to keep up with the e-mails and telephone calls about how to access the system.
  • Also, it appeared that the help screens built into it did not meet the needs of certain types of users who prefer getting the executive version up front to clicking there way to just-in-time instructions.
  • Originally, the deadlines for delivering the first products were dictated by the course syllabus. Later, timely release of updated versions of the guides was important to coincide with the release of new functionality and corresponding promotional presentations at administrator meetings.
Scope
Role
  • As the Technical Operations Supervisor and project manager of the course evaluation system, I was responsible for the design and implementation of the quick reference guides.
  • I personally designed and created each guide.


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