Determining a Deployment Medium

When you do an audience analysis as part of your needs assessment, keep track of how many users there are in each job role. The job role's numbers help determine what kind of documentation medium to use.

• If you have hundreds of people in a job role, a simulation or PowerPoint-style presentation is more cost-effective because (a.) you can train them remotely or as self-paced training, (b.) you don't have to set up training data in a training environment to teach them the transaction, and (c.) you can use the simulation to train new hires, ensuring that everyone gets the same information over time.
• If you have only a few people in a job role, a paper document is more cost-effective, especially if that role deals with complex transactions, because it's quicker and less expensive to write a cheat sheet than it is to record a simulation to teach five people.

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