The Logic Underlying the Intelligent Technologies Used in Performance Support

Neal Stephenson wrote in Snow crash that “the human mind can absorb and process an incredible amount of information—if it comes in the right format. The right interface. If you put the right face on it.” So here we are in the information age. Science fiction and cyberpunk writers have been imagining future worlds with deep information structures and an easy familiarity we can only dream of. Characters in the film Johnny Mnemonic move through vast data networks as though they are zooming through the stacks of a library. There’s even a character called The Librarian in Snow crash who performs instant searches on a giant database, returning neatly organized packages of just the right information. But back here in the present day, we’re overloaded. Computers have made it possible for us to know more and do more in less time and with less training. And do it with more data at our finger tips. Yet we are overwhelmed because we don’t always have the right tools to put the right face on the data and turn it into usable information. Performance support (also called EPSS, for electronic performance support system) emerged from the instructional design and training communities because corporate enterprise systems were difficult for people to use, and the training needed to make them productive was expensive and time consuming. A good definition is that “EPSS (Electronic Performance Support Systems) are systems that provide employees with the information, advice and learning experiences they need to get up to speed as quickly as possible and with the minimum of support from other people” (Raybould 1996). One of the issues in designing performance support is managing information overload. Two approaches are the use of agents and the presentation of information in visual form (called information visualization). The former looks for ways that computer programs can do work for users, sorting through data on their behalf; the latter looks for ways to present information so that users can directly access it through direct manipulation. You can do both, but the selection of each has an impact on the interaction style and the degree to which users can directly control the system. It is therefore an issue that any performance support system designer should consider carefully. This is a logical extension of the goal of easy-to-use programs, adding the requirement that the user interface be actively informative and helpful. Performance support systems also typically embody business rules and are designed to enable workers to fulfill their tasks within that context. The rules-based nature of many performance support systems argues in favor of agent technology to narrow down choices and help users make decisions. A successful EPSS also relies on seamless integration into the user interface and an understanding of what information a user needs at any moment. So in addition to understanding the performance to be achieved through the EPSS, the designers of EPSSs also need to