According to Rossett and Gauier-Downes (1991):
A job aid:
- is a repository for information, processes, or perspectives;
- is external to the individual;
- supports work and activity;
- directs, guides, and enlightens performance.
Note that job aids remain outside the individual, in their work environment, in the form of books, cards and software. Information which you memorize is not a job aid.
What does is a job aid? Here are some examples:
- You want to set the clock on your VCR because you're tired of the blinking 12:00, so you turn to the VCR manual.
- Your spouse complains that he/she is sick of the usual, so you decide to break-out the cookbook and create something special.
- You want to perform a task in Microsoft Word, but you lost the documentation. You turn to the on-line help provided from within the program.
- You lost the number of the handsome man with the enchanting last name. Consequently, the phone book becomes an important resource.
As you can see, these examples all support performance and allow the user to accomplish something. Instead of learning the VCR or the recipies or one phone book by heart, you use a job aid
What about those clever job aid wannabes though? Romance novels, for example are not job aids because they do not support performance. Well, not usually. Hammers and hair dryers are other good examples of non-job aids. Though they do support work and performance, but they are not repositories for information or processes. They are tools; this is what distinguishes a job aid from a tool.
