Re: "Granny" instructions

Subject: Re: "Granny" instructions
From: Tracy Boyington <tracy_boyington -at- OKVOTECH -dot- ORG>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:25:12 -0600

Krista van Laan wrote:

> I find that I'm not very confident about how much to
> include. The customer seems to want _everything_ included -- they
> even asked me to spell out all abbreviations and acronyms, even
> though abbreviations are used in the menus and windows. (This does
> not strike me as a simplification, but it indicates that they want
> everything down to the nth detail.)

It's not a simplification, but I personally like knowing what the
abbreviations and acronyms stand for, because it often helps the whole
system make more sense. Maybe that's what they had in mind. Or maybe
they're just really anal retentive. ;-)

> I'm concerned that the procedures will be much too long. I really
> dislike seeing 20- or 30-step procedures.

No kidding. What about breaking your procedures into smaller chunks? For
example, if I'm telling a nurse how to give an injection, my chunks will
be:

A. Wash your hands
(several steps to wash your hands)
B. Prepare the patient
(several steps to prepare the patient)
C. Draw up the injection
(several steps to draw up the injection)
D. Administer the injection
(several steps)
etc.

This is especially helpful if some of the major steps (such as washing
your hands) are repeated for other procedures, because if someone has
already learned how to do that part they can skip to the next major
step.

Tracy
--
==============================================
Tracy Boyington tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education
Stillwater, OK, USA
http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/home.htm
!!! Nov. 8, 1997: OSU 30, OU 7 !!!
==============================================


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