Designing Electronic Performance Support Systems

(PhD Thesis, 1995)

Ashok Banerji

Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory,
School of Computing & Mathematics,
University of Teesside, UK

This thesis is devoted to a study of electronic performance support and its applications. Essentially, an electronic performance support system (EPSS) is a sophisticated interactive computer-based environment that provides on-the-job support to facilitate task performance within some particular target application domain. The main objectives of EPSS design are twofold: first, the identification of the performance support aids that are needed within the domain of interest; and second, the specification of the nature of the tools that are necessary to provide this support. The tools that are developed may find application at three basic levels: individual, group and organisational.

The material presented in this thesis is organised into three logical sections. First, a structured architecture for EPSS design is proposed and described; the model that is proposed contains four basic levels. Second, a number of different types of generic resource are identified and described; the use of these resources is illustrated by means of a case study approach. Third, based upon the material that is presented and discussed, a number of fundamental 'principles of performance support' are derived. The model, generic resource structures and principles together form the basis for the derivation of a set of design and development guidelines for producing performance support systems.

The final part of the thesis presents a simple case study which illustrates the steps involved in building and evaluating a prototype performance support system for use within an academic organisation. This case study illustrates how the needs of different types of user can be accommodated within a single modular EPSS facility. The case study also demonstrates the way in which the basic design principles derived in this research are used during the formulation of a performance support system.