Minimalism for the Win : User-Centered Design for Guidance in Industrial Maintenance

Background: We conducted an exploratory study to test the delivery of technical instructions built on the principles of minimalism. The aim was to investigate how we could support target users’ skill levels in a context-sensitive manner. Literature review: Related work examines minimalism, user needs and profiling, and industrial maintenance and technician experience. Research questions: 1. How can the semantic structure of DITA XML be utilized in delivering technical information to users based on their skill levels? 2. How would a layered system of information support the principles of minimalism? Methodology: We created material and tested the concept in user studies with maintenance pers…