DESIGNING

LEARNING &
PERFORMANCE
SUPPORT* *aka the LPS course

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY LPS – Lesson 2 PANTELIS M. PAPADOPOULOS

UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE MINIMALISM ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR [email protected]
MINIMALISM
Pantelis M. Papadopoulos
Associate Professor
Instructional Technology
[email protected]

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY LPS – Lesson 2 PANTELIS M. PAPADOPOULOS

UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE MINIMALISM ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR [email protected]
Minimalism !
IN TODAY’S COURSE…
What will I learn today?
What is Minimalism?
Make sense to your audience!
Getting to know your audience
Principles and heuristics of Minimalism
What
will I What is Minimalism for an LPS design.

What are the benefits of Minimalism

learn
in an LPS design.

How to apply Minimalism in your LPS

design.

today?
1960s
Minimalism emerges as a new art form in New York in the early ‘60s
The new art favored the cool over the "dramatic“. Minimalists frequently used industrial materials and
emphasized anonymity over the expressive excess. Artworks were composed of simple geometric shapes
based on the square and the rectangle.

Frank Stella
Hyena Stomp, 1962
1970s
Minimalism spreads across America and Europe
Museums and galleries include Minimalism art work from painters, sculptors, and designers. The term
“Minimalism” is expanded to cover more aspects of art.

Robert Morris Sol LeWitt

Untitled, 1965/1971 Two Open Modular Cubes/Half-Off ,1972
2020
Minimalism in everything
The last 50 years, the term “Minimalism” is expanded and “stretched” to cover any aspect of human activity.
Many uses of the term are irrelevant or completely detached from the original meaning and purpose of the
Minimalism movement:

Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from
worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from
the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom.
theminimalists.com

A crude simplification suggests that Minimalism simply means that “less is more”. This was part of a quote
from Ad Reinhart (1913-1967), an artist of the Abstract Expressionist movement that preceded Minimalism:

The more stuff in it, the busier the work of art, the worse it is. More is less. Less is more. The eye is
a menace to clear sight. The laying bare of oneself is obscene. Art begins with the getting rid of
nature.
Ad Reinhart

For Minimalism in LPS, using less is not a goal but a side-effect of principles the designer needs to follow
while creating instructions.
So what is Minimalism in LPS?
Minimalism
A design methodology for creating consistent, concise,
useful, and actionable instructions
1982
Minimalism and Technical Communications
John M. Carroll and his colleagues at IBM, dissatisfied with the existing kinds of user support, engage in user
observations to discover ways of creating support that would more effectively satisfy the user.

Two years later, he founds the User Interface Institute at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center.

The era of personal computers has recently begun and Technical Communications becomes paramount
in introducing the new invention to households across the world.

John M. Carroll
Distinguished Professor, Information Sciences and Technology
Pennsylvania State University
US
1990
The Nurnberg Funnel
A collection of papers written by Carroll and his colleagues are assembled into a book published by MIT
Press. It becomes the reference point for academics and designers of Technical Communications.

The legendary Funnel of Nurnberg was said to make people wise very quickly when the right knowledge
was poured in; it is an approach that designers continue to apply in trying to make instruction more
efficient.

Available here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/nurnberg-funnel

John M. Carroll
The Nurnberg Funnel: Designing Minimalistic Instructions for Practical Computer Skills
MIT Press
1998
Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel
Eight years after The Nurnberg Funnel, Carroll and experts in Technical Communications publish an
anthology of articles on Minimalism discussing theories and practice, establishing further Minimalism in
Technical Communications.

Among the contributors is our own Hans van der Meij. This is the course that Hans created and taught for
25 years at UT before retiring. Read: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/ist/minimalism/

Available here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/minimalism-beyond-nurnberg-funnel

John M. Carroll
Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel
MIT Press
Where do you start?
- Analysis!
Remember Lecture 1: Needs / Context / Audience / Task

You always design for a specific goal, in a specific context,

for a specific audience!
w Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
hy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
ser! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
y User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
w Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!

There is a mantra that every designer knows…

w Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
hy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
ser! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
y User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!
w Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User! Know Thy User!

There is a mantra that every designer knows…

You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
y User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User! You Are NOT Thy User!
You need to speak the language of the user!
- It can be a very challenging task…
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

- What is the jargon that the dad doesn’t understand?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtIFbCj5ndI
Medieval helpdesk

- How would you describe the functionalities of a book to someone that hasn’t seen one?
(Medieval version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ
The IKEA bookbook

- How would you describe the functionalities of a book to someone that hasn’t seen one?
(Futuristic version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOXQo7nURs0
The interface of the Mactini

- Just because the designer think its simple, it doesn’t mean it is!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGGOn-H7s3Q
Smart treadmill

- Take into account user actions, environment, and special cases and anticipate errors!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSzkAuKPe0
How do I get to know my user?
Research techniques to know your users and their behavior
User interviews - guided discussion can help you understand their preferences and attitudes.

Contextual inquiry - combining direct user observation with an interview that takes place in
the users environment in order to better understand their work environment, the problems
they are trying to solve and other related preferences.

Surveys - a clear set of questions distributed to a wide audience in order to gather results that
can help validate existing data and personas.

Usability testing - the process of performing a series of specific tests on a site or product to
reveal potential usability problems and identify solutions to address them.

However…
 DON’T
First Rule of Usability:
LISTEN
TO
USERS!
Let’s watch Jakob Nielsen explain it further
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARVjXqBI2A
Quotes from the video
- Users are not designers

- If you ask people what they want, they’ll just request more of what they already know

- Often, customers will ask for design that’s really bad for them

- People simply can’t predict whether something is useful from looking at it

- It’s not true feedback if the person hasn’t tried the product before commenting

- People do like things that work well

source(s): https://www.nngroup.com/videos/dont-listen-to-customers/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/first-rule-of-usability-dont-listen-to-users/

The Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) is an American computer user interface and user experience consulting firm, founded in
1998 by Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman. Their work on Usability has been paramount. Don Norman is one of the most cited
academics on Usability with more than 144K citations. Their website contains many articles and videos on the design process,
testing, and usability evaluation. Strongly suggested: https://www.nngroup.com/
 “If I had asked people what they wanted,
they would have said faster horses.”*

Henry Ford (1863 – 1947)

Founder of the Ford Motor Company

*As many famous quotes, this lacks historical evidence. Nevertheless, it makes a clear point.
 …goal-oriented

Often, the novice user is… …prone to act, but missing directions

…clumsy and erroneous

…stumbling upon a solution

And, to paraphrase the guy on the left,

“if there is the possibility of an error, a novice user will make it”

Edward A. Murphy Jr. (1918 – 1990)

Aerospace Engineer
How to apply Minimalism in an LPS design
PRINCIPLES OF MINIMALISM
1. Choose an action-oriented approach.
support user’s tendency to act

2. Anchor the tool in the task domain.

focus on meaningful tasks

3. Support error recognition and recovery.

support dealing with problems

4. Support reading to do, study, and locate.

make information modular and accessible

*Each principle comes with a list of heuristics to further help you apply Minimalism in your LPS design
1. Choose an action-oriented approach

Minimalist instructions are always action-oriented – the users want to learn by doing.

The users are eager to act – even the novice ones.

When the users read instructions they are already motivated and they want to succeed –
use in your instructions this early engagement while building up their knowledge.

HEURISTICS
1.1 Provide an immediate opportunity to act
1.2 Encourage and support exploration and innovation
1.3 Respect the integrity of the user’s activity
1. Choose an action-oriented approach

1.1 Provide an immediate opportunity to act

Give priority to instructions that would allow the user to act.

Conceptual information may be valuable for the user, but when placed in the beginning
of the instruction they pose an obstacle.*

Allow the user to act within the first 5-10 minutes (or within the first 4-5 pages of the
documentation).

Give the user less to read and more to do – take advantage of the user’s tendency to act.

* Some technical communications experts may consider warnings in the beginning of a manual as an obstacle.

There are three types of warnings:

Caution (e.g., undesirable result), Warning (e.g., risk of injury), and Danger (e.g., life-threatening situation).

Use your judgement and place each type strategically within your manual (if relevant).
Check ANSI Z535.4 standard for details.
1. Choose an action-oriented approach

1.1 Provide an immediate opportunity to act

Give priority to instructions that would allow the user to act.

Conceptual information may be valuable for the user, but when placed in the beginning
of the instruction they pose an obstacle.*

Allow the user to act within the first 5-10 minutes (or within the first 4-5 pages of the
documentation).

Give the user less to read and more to do – take advantage of the user’s tendency to act.

* Some technical communications experts may consider warnings in the beginning of a manual as an obstacle.

There are three types of warnings:

Caution (e.g., undesirable result), Warning (e.g., risk of injury), and Danger (e.g., life-threatening situation).

Use your judgement and place each type strategically within your manual (if relevant).
Check ANSI Z535.4 standard for details.
1. Choose an action-oriented approach

1.2 Encourage and support exploration and innovation

Exploration and innovative activity allows the user to get a better understanding.

Invite users to open-ended tasks, making it clear that exploration is welcomed and even
desired (use phrases such as “Try and see for yourself”, “See what happens”).

Exploration is commonly underused as a user strategy – What percent of your

smartphone’s functionality are you able to use? What about Word?

You will need to strike a balance between sufficiently open-ended exploration and
meaningful and specific goals.
1. Choose an action-oriented approach

1.3 Respect the integrity of the user’s activity

Do not interfere with the user’s task execution – A difficult thing to achieve.

Have in mind that the current user goal can change every moment and can be short
and trivial (e.g., finding the right menu item to click or aligning two furniture items).

Passive help techniques provide instructions only when asked (e.g., the info balloon that
pops up when you hold the mouse over an interface element for a few seconds).
2. Anchor the tool in the task domain

The user wants to learn how to use a tool to achieve a goal – learning the tool for the
sake of it is not the end-goal.

HEURISTICS
2.1 Select or design instructional activities that are real tasks
2.2 Create components of instruction that reflect the task structure
2. Anchor the tool in the task domain

2.1 Select or design instructional activities that are real tasks

You need to gain deeper knowledge of the domain to understand what the end-goals of
the users might be.

Use the end-goals and their subtasks to help the user learn how to use the tool.

Example: if you want to teach people how to use a mouse, do not ask them to just move
it across the desktop – instead, ask them to modify the time on their computer.
2. Anchor the tool in the task domain

2.2 Create components of instruction that reflect the task structure

Once again, you need to have a good understanding of the task to divide it effectively in
smaller more manageable sub-tasks.

The structure and organization of the instructions should follow deliberately the sub-task
structure – this will allow the user to gain a better and broader idea of the task at hand.

Use header and section to make the steps distinguishable.

Example:

1. Creating a PDF document

1.1 Creating a Word document.
1.2 Writing text in a document.
1.3 Adding images in a document.
1.4 Saving a document.
1.5 Converting a Word document into PDF format.
3. Support error recognition and recovery

Making mistakes is unavoidable and it is a big part of learning – The goal is not to
eliminate mistakes completely but to reduce their number and streamline their detection,
diagnosis, and recovery.

Detection: acknowledge that an error has occurred.

Diagnosis: understand what caused the error.
Recovery: perform actions to correct the error.

Novice users spend anywhere between 25% to 50% of their time dealing with errors.

Take into account the user’s emotional state during an error.*

*Especially around printers (sorry for the potato quality. The next video is from the ‘90s)

HEURISTICS
3.1 Prevent mistakes whenever possible
3.2 Provide error information when actions are error prone or correction is difficult
3.3 Provide error information that supports detection, diagnosis, and correction
3.4 Provide on-the-spot error information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6iDw5ykmwQ

The Oatmeal has a nice explanation: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers

The New Yorker has another one: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/why-paper-jams-persist
3. Support error recognition and recovery

3.1 Prevent mistakes whenever possible

Provide the right information at the right time – make sure the user knows enough to
avoid making an error (where to be, what to do, which tools and materials to use).

Use clear language and high quality images/videos, avoid jargon.

Employ testing and revise the instructions when needed.

Block options for the user – guide the user to a safe sequence of steps.
3. Support error recognition and recovery

3.2 Provide error information when actions are error prone or correction is
difficult

Pay extra attention and identify actions that are error prone and actions that may lead to
a difficult to fix error.

Employ testing and talk to task experts to identify these tasks – having a deeper
knowledge of the field also helps.

Error prone actions:

- There is a mismatch in user’s knowledge
- The action deviates from the previous routine (e.g., special-purpose actions)
3. Support error recognition and recovery

3.3 Provide error information that supports detection, diagnosis, and correction

The user must be able to detect the error – information on what an error would look like.

Diagnosis information is only relevant to the user during the handling of an error, but it
may not be necessary to correct an error.

Diagnosis is more important when learning is a goal of the instruction – in procedural,

one-time off tasks (assembling an IKEA furniture), information on how to fix an error is
enough for the user.

Based on the error, the user may need to correct the error or return to the position before
the error occurred.
3. Support error recognition and recovery

3.4 Provide on-the-spot error information

Error information should be placed where users need it the most (both in time and place).

Think of what the user will be doing and provide information that would be there just
when needed.

Proximal positioning of error information serves four purposes:

- Catch mistakes early
- Help diagnosis
- Avoid providing contextual information (i.e., you do not need to explain the situation, as
you would in case the error information was presented separately in another part of
instructions)
- Support exploration (that is not intentional – users “try out” mistakes to get a deeper
understanding of the task)
What was the last manual/instructions you have read?
How much time did you spend with that manual and how did you use it?
4. Support learning to do, study, and locate

Only a small percentage of users will read a manual cover-to-cover. The majority will
employ a range of reading strategies:
- Diagonal reading
- Start at the beginning and abandon it later
- Browsing to a specific chapter
- Any combination of the above

You need to make the manual appealing to the user – pay attention to the quality of:
- Information provided (useful and to-the-point)
- Structure and organization (easy to follow and understand)
- Overall presentation (quality of typesetting and visuals)

Make the sections/chapters of the manual as standalone as possible to allow random

access.

HEURISTICS
4.1 Be brief; Don’t spell out everything
4.2 Provide closure for chapters
4. Support learning to do, study, and locate

4.1 Be brief; Don’t spell out everything

Provide only information needed to complete a specific task – explanations, theories, and
concepts may be interesting, but not useful for a user trying to complete a task.

By keeping things simple and lean, you enhance the usability of the manual – things are
easier to find.

Make use of what the users know already and provide hints and prompts to additional
information for those that do not.

Example
If you want to help people convert a bitmap image to JPEG, you do not need to explain
how the JPEG algorithm works, but you should mention that the resulting JPEG image will
have lower quality in case printing is needed.
4. Support learning to do, study, and locate

4.2 Provide closure for chapters

Make each chapter as independent as possible from other chapters and from outside
knowledge – some connection will always be there.

Each chapter must have a starting and ending point – a common starting point
enhances chapter independence.
Example: each chapter of a software tool manual starts from the tool’s home page.

To make chapters independent, some repetition in instructions may occur – this is fine
and usually beneficial for the user.
 Where to go from here?

Look around in your house and online and start reading manuals!
MANUAL TYPES

Getting started
Target group: experienced users without knowledge of this tool or previous version of it.
Supports: installation, first exploration, immediate use.

Tutorial / Learning Guide

Target group: novice users of this tool with varying relevant experiences.
Supports: learning of the main functions, practicing.

User Guide
Target group: users that already had some experience with the tool.
Supports: use of all relevant functions of the tool, task oriented.

Reference Guide
Target group: Expert users of the tool.
Supports: understanding how the tool functions, diagnosing and solving problems, system
oriented.
OVERVIEW
* Feedback opportunity

Week 1 Week 3 Week 5 Week 7 Week 10

* * * *
Sep 3 Sep 17 Oct 1 Oct 15 Nov 5
Introduction Minimalism 4 components model Usability testing Poster

Group formation; Analysis of needs, Design of product Evaluation of Nov 13:

Communication context, audience, product; Iterative Resubmission in
with client; Decide and tasks design process case of failing LPS
on topic

Lectures/poster session Deliverables (included in the assessment)

Lecture 1 (Sep 3): Introduction (this session!) Product: the end product for the client
Lecture 2 (Sep 17): Minimalism Report: description of design phases,
Lecture 3 (Oct 1): Four components model argumentation, outcomes, etc. (20 pages)
Lecture 4 (Oct 15): Usability testing Poster: An A1 poster that describes the phases of
Poster session (Nov 5): Poster presentation the design, the produced solution, and the
evaluation findings

More information about the course, literature, templates, grading, etc. will be posted on Canvas
THANK YOU! DANK JE! ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΩ!

Contact: [email protected]