Sometimes our customers think they know what they need and want.

Sadly, they don’t usually know. Too often, training and documentation requirements come from business line managers discussing projects in conference rooms. Instead, actual training consumers have different requirements.

The film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan begins with a seemingly impossible training challenge involving a rescue of the Kobayashi Maru (a spaceship in the fictional Starfleet Academy). The trainee fails the test and claims that the challenge is an impossible one—a no win situation for all involved. Later in the movie, Captain James T. Kirk reveals the secret to his unique solution as a cadet: He changed the rules.

The best way to change the rules is to focus the solution on the users receiving the training or doing their jobs. Instead of simply filling out checklists of project requirements, we can add key value by centering training and documentation plans on actual users.

This case study looks at an training development engagement where what the customer asked for was not what the users needed...or wanted. We’ll look at the initial requirements and how I changed the game to the benefit of the users and the delight of the customer. Initially, the customer asked for training...which, to them, consisted just of a PowerPoint deck and some stand-up lecturing.

Rather than simply provide that, I took a user-centered approach. I interviewed 12 people in their offices, labs, and cubicles. I also noted their environment and their habits of working. Then I created personas and scenarios along with analysis of existing documents and training materials.

Rather than delivering some Power Point files and boring lectures, I created an online, on-demand system focusing on key tasks that actual users would perform with the new software. Users appreciated the approach immensely, and the customer was ecstatic.

Ah, the wonders of reuse and repurposing of information! How enticing it seems. How orderly and straightforward the vision can sound--a clearly defined content structure, writers trained to write in a modular fashion, and a content management solution in place.

In fact, implementing reuse across information deliverables—--both training and documentation--is a rather messy process. It tends to have starts and stops. And it almost never exists in a vacuum; new deliverables continue to be needed along the way.

This case study provides a glimpse into the early stages of a reuse project in a training department. The immediate need is to modularize the curriculum and materials for a key, instructor-led training course. This modularization is needed fairly quickly, to address customer requests for more personalized versions of the class. But looking down the road, there are potential areas for reuse across other trainings, and eventually with the product documentation. With an eye to the future, it is essential to consider what “modular” means at a number of different levels.

Every reuse project poses challenges--—that’’s where they get messy. This case study will show you some of the challenges faced on this project, and how we addressed them.

For example: 

• Existing training materials are in different formats--some in FrameMaker and PowerPoint, others in XML and a content management system
• We will need to publish multiple course variations before all content is moved to one platform
• Design decisions need to be resolved across multiple training departments
• Limited resources (a very small team)

In this session, Linda Urban will focus on the strategies used, trade-offs made, and lessons learned to date as the team moves toward making training content modular with both short and long-term goals in mind.

It’s not enough to create a manual or job aid in today’s “instant media” environment. Today’s employees have grown up with and expect a rich media experience wherever they are. Your audience expects to be engaged and stimulated by the media they consume.

This session will explore how to keep the attention of the digital generation using video and audio. Topics covered will include:

• Today’s media landscape
• Effective production methods
• Tools to create
• Distribution technology
• Peek at the future

After the session you will have the information you need to plan how you’ll use rich media for documentation and training purposes.

Flash-based content lets you add with animation to your text and graphics. In this session, participants will see examples of Flash-developed content and a live demonstration of basic Flash development. Topics include:

• Timeline
• Keyframes
• Tweening
• And much more

If you’re curious about Flash and want to find out what it’s all about, this is the session for you.