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An electronic performance support system (EPSS) is a computer-based work environment that gives people task-relevant tools, information, guidance, and learning resources while they do their jobs. Its central purpose is practical: help someone perform a task at the moment support is needed, rather than relying only on training delivered separately.
What an EPSS includes
In a 1999 article, T. J. Bastiaens defined an EPSS as “an integrated computerised environment that supports and occasionally monitors employees while doing their jobs.” Bastiaens described four common components:
- Tools: functions employees use to carry out a job.
- Information: facts or reference material needed to complete work correctly.
- Advice: guidance for difficult or less familiar parts of a task.
- Training: learning resources that build knowledge and skills.
A 2022 review of EPSS in office work emphasizes granular, task-specific information that helps users address a problem at hand. The support may also help people learn as they work. Taken together, these descriptions point to a system that puts useful tools and knowledge within timely reach, preferably in the context where the work happens.
How an EPSS differs from training and software help
Training can prepare someone to do a job, but an EPSS is organized around performing work. A user might consult one to recall previously learned material, follow a procedure, find an answer, or learn while completing a task. It is therefore not simply another name for a course or a learning management system.
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Software help can be part of an EPSS, but the terms do not always mean the same thing. Help for a single feature usually addresses a narrow software question; an EPSS may combine tools and knowledge resources across a broader work task or job. Definitions vary, and some use a broad enough scope to include help functions, while others stress an integrated environment for supporting work as a whole.
Ways EPSS approaches can differ
EPSS is a category, not a single standardized product type. These are useful dimensions for describing a system, rather than a definitive taxonomy:
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- Integration: support may be embedded in the work interface or provided through a separate resource.
- Support function: a system may offer task tools, reference information, procedural advice, or learning material.
- Timing: EPSS aims to make support available during work; training delivered mainly before or after a task serves a different immediate role.
- Scope: support can address one software feature or span a larger work task or job.
A historical example—and what it does not prove
A University of Twente record describes a 1997 project involving 100 telephone operators in the sales and service department of a Dutch bank. The system used a large-screen monitor and included a tool environment for processing data alongside an information environment for quickly accessing current information. It illustrates one way an EPSS was used in a particular workplace; it is not a blueprint for modern systems or evidence of a universal performance benefit.
An ERIC record for a 2005 comparative study says EPSS provides relevant information while users perform tasks and notes that the study examined performance, attitudes, system use, and time on task. The record does not provide the study’s results, so it cannot support a specific claim about the system’s effect. The cited sources also do not establish a current, broadly generalizable statistic for EPSS adoption or impact.
Quick Recap
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Sources for the definition
- T. J. Bastiaens, “Assessing an electronic performance support system for the analysis of jobs and tasks” (1999), University of Twente record.
- “Problem-Solving and Tool Use in Office Work: The Potential of Electronic Performance Support Systems to Promote Employee Performance and Learning” (2022).
- University of Twente record for “Electronic performance support for telephone operators” (1997).
- Hotek, “An Overview of Performance Technology” (1999), Virginia Tech-hosted record.
- “Performance Technology,” Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology.
- ERIC record for “A Comparative Study of Electronic Performance Support Systems” (2005).
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