Development and Use of the Documentation Design Aid

Abstract

In aviation maintenance and inspection, work documents are critical to safety, as they act as both production control devices and job aids for mechanics and inspectors. Based on an analysis of the current state of documentation in aviation maintenance, there was a clear need to help document designers/writers utilize good human factors practice. Design guidelines were developed and tested (Patel et al, 1994) and then made accessible through a Visual Basic window, called the Documentation Design Aid or DDA, available on-screen while writing a procedure. This DDA was tested for usability by writers and for comprehension of the documents produced. A number of different evaluations showed that the DDA reduced comprehension errors significantly. The DDA is now available via a WWW site for users to download and use.

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