JOB E LEARN Vol -1 issue -1 | Page 41

planning and writing phase, but in either case close liaison should occur between writers and the developers (if these are different people) throughout these stages. This phase includes:  producing the physical product  producing any accompanying documentation (user guides, implementation guides, etc if these are needed, eg the content is a course or total learning product). Testing and final checking An important phase. All your efforts above are of little value if the product is not accessible and usable. Consideration of usability factors actually begins in the planning phase but it should be formally tested during prototyping, then following full production. The importance of testing and considering the usability factors cannot be over-stressed. These steps require:  Knowing what standards should be aimed for (technical compliance and usability of the product being developed).  Establishing means by which to measure or test that standards and usability objectives have been achieved.  Considering when to measure, and how information from this will feed back into the development process to achieve best outcomes most efficiently. Evaluation, feedback and redevelopment Evaluation is a positive step that can provide feedback on the effectiveness of your product; this will enable fine-tuning of the product. It also provides valuable feedback to the production team on ways future developments can be improved.