A design aid for improved documentation in aircraft maintenance: A precursor to training

With the increasing demand for error reduction in civil aviation maintenance has come a need to ensure that complex work instructions are presented so as to minimize error opportunities. Guidelines have been developed for improving human factors aspects of work control cards and proven effective in the design of both paper-based and computer-based. The current study examined ways of providing such guidelines in a form which document writers will use. Guideline content came from a literature search, plus currently-available design guides. Guideline structure was developed in conjunction with a user team at a partner airline. Both paper-based and computer-based versions of a Documentation Design Aid (DDA) were developed, with iterative input from the user team. These versions were tested on engineering technical writers to measure performance and usability, with generally positive results. The user team approach produced a list of issues in documentation which went beyond document design into the whole document production/testing/using process. Thus, an effort parallel to the design aid development resulted in a review of the macro-ergonomic aspects of the work documentation system.