Tips and Insights

For work instructions, we use graphics over text whenever possible because of the advantages illustrations offer, including improving comprehension. Our goal is to give operators a context-a complete sense of what they have to do in the procedure-just by looking at the illustrations.

It's consistent with our recognition of aliteracy and the necessity for operators to be able to access information quickly and efficiently during high-stress moments. It also helps as a training tool. If new employees can see what's happening before they ever work on a machine, it not only helps with learning, it also aids in retention.

There are other advantages to using illustrations, including the option of manipulating the focus of attention-difficult to do with photos unless you have time to change them in Photoshop or other editing software. The accompanying PDF shows a technique we use to focus attention.

This page comes from a client's manual for servicing a hydraulic pump.


» Click here for larger image

To assemble this pump, the technician had to tighten 25 bolts using five different torque values. To identify the sets of bolts on the pump housing, we used shading to fade back unimportant details, allowing us to highlight the differences between the bolts.

Here are some points to note:

• We decided to use 2D illustrations for their simplicity because detail wasn't necessary for this procedure.
• We used successive illustrations of the same view (easy for an operator to follow) with different sets of bolts highlighted for the corresponding torque values.
• You could achieve the same contrast with a photo editor by fading back and highlighting target areas.

Relevant graphics and simple text-we think it's the way to go for work instructions.

Labels: aliteracy, illustrations, visual work instructions