Electric Powered Hand Crane Instructions

This educational and project informs and educates the viewers on the functions of electric powered hand cranes, showing them detailed steps on how to utilize these assets.

Audience: Newer shop floor operators with little to no experience and senior shop floor operators who are new to operating this machinery.

Responsibilities: Instructional Design, Technical Writing, Asset Creation and Illustration, Learning Experience Design, and Presentation

Tools Used: Inkscape, Canva, and Google Docs

Overview

In many high-risk manufacturing environments, injuries often occur due to improper machinery management. In addition, facilities must pass safety compliance audits, which mandate that all operators are formally qualified personnel. Given that newer operators will have little to no experience in working this machinery, I utilized my technical writing and instrucitonal design skills to develop a highly visual training manual for the Vestil Electric Powered Hand Crane to bridge this gap without disturbing or pulling away senior operators from their tasks.

This project follows the ADDIE model to transition the raw technical data into a compliant and comprehensible qualification tool.

Analysis

I was approached by the stakeholder to create standardized work instructions for operating the available hand crane on the basis of to train floor employees, establish a qualification pipeline, and maintain regulatory compliance for upcoming facility audits. I formed the learning objective: The operators will independently execute the maneuvering and lifting sequences of the Vestil Hand Crane with 100% compliance against the safety audit checklists.

Afterwards, I consulted a manufacturing Subject Matter Expert to observe the crane operations and log the procedural steps. I then categorized all of the functions and knowledge needed to operate the crane based on spatial locations and operational sequences to outline and create the work instructions.

Design and Architecture

Once my analysis phase was complete, I intentionally bypassed real photographs for a visual layout due to the former containing chaotic and cluttered backgrounds and poor lighting. Using my reference photographs, I vector-illustrated simplified schematics of the crane in the Inkscape software. This helped in eliminating visual clutter, and in keeping the learner's attention when engaging with the instructions.

Development

Once I finished creating the assets in Inkscape, I exported the grouped components of the assets as singular images. I built the manual layout of the work instructions in Canva. I architected the document into the following sections:

General View with Labeled Parts
Critical Functions
Crane Movement
Crane Extension/Retraction
Crane Extension/ Retraction (Boom Extension)
Crane Elevation/Depression

In each section, I gave detailed descriptions of the various functions of the hand crane while making and placing the text in aesthetically viable positions depending on the contents of the images.

I chose the Helvetica World font for both the headers and text to maximize readability among the workers. I applied a strict typographic hierarchy using targeted bolding on the headings and subheadings of each section in order to hold the learners' attention and to maintain a professional, consistent, and legible aesthetic.

Implementation and User Testing

After creating my prototype, I ran an active user test on an inexperienced operator with the supervision of the qualified operator (SME) for safety and technical accuracy. The inexperienced operator was tasked to only use my draft manual without assistance from the qualified operator. This allowed me to observe firsthand where the documentation lacked clarity, where the user lacked clarity, and where/if any operational features were missing from the initial information gathering.

Evaluation and Iteration

Following the user test, I refined the procedural steps based on the user's friction points and the SME's feedback. I ran subsequent user tests with other novice operators until they could flawlessly operate the machinery without assistance or intervention.

The final project was signed off and approved by the SME and the stakeholder as an accessible and comprehensive training asset, successfully preparing the workers for safe daily operations as well as the upcoming compliance audits.

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