Digital Work Instructions in Sheltered Workshops

This research-in-progress explores the impact of digital work instructions (DWI) in sheltered workshops, environments designed to provide employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The research commenced with a literature review on studies that compared digital to paper-based instructions. The review highlighted several potential benefits of DWI. Next, semi-structured interviews were conducted with C-level managers of sheltered workshops who are early adopters of DWI technologies. The interview findings provided real-world insights into the application of DWI in sheltered workshops, confirming several benefits identified in the literature. Notably, enhancements were observed in rapid interpretation of instructions, reduced training duration, increased employee autonomy, fewer execution errors, and a diminished need for prior knowledge. Future research steps include a second round of semi-structured interviews and a focus group to validate and synthesize the findings.