Checklists

<h2>Checklists</h2>

Checklists are a very common tool - often used for assurance documentation (criteria are met or not met); for critical step confirmation in safety critical, non-routine or high demand tasks (where you can't be expected to remember everything every time).

Checklists can take the format of a form (items are documented by the user and the information is an input to some process) or as a reference guide for users.

It's a trap to put everything related to a process or 'required' criteria in checklists - it tends to create a long list to complete which can be frustrating and is a pain to design well and maintain (which can lead to poor maintenance of the checklist itself and typically poor use rates).

Aim to include criteria that address the critical path or 'safety critical' level of criteria; or split the checklist criteria into shorter forms to match a workflow of tasks.

If the checklist is collecting information, make sure it is used by someone somewhere some time otherwise its a waste of effort to ask people to document it.