An electronic performance support system (EPSS) is a computerized system designed to increase productivity by supporting the performance of the worker on demand at the time of need. This way, workers are allowed to perform with a minimum of intervention from others. Popular examples of performance support tools, or partially implemented EPSSs, include the personal computer "wizards" whose assistance in creating a database, spreadsheet, document, or presentation results in a finished product rather than simply a user tutorial. An integrated performance support system, or a fully implemented EPSS, can provide even more: expert knowledge, searchable references and data, granular training like cue cards, and automated tools. A EPSS project begins with commitment to needs assessment and project support, cooperation between subject experts and designers, the skills of a multidisciplinary team, and a well-considered plan as to whether the system will be built from scratch or wrapped around an existing application. When marketing an EPSS, one must convince the organization that it will solve current performance problems, and that the level of support and the timing are optimal. Planning stages involve establishing project scope, reviewing organizational goals and needs, making sure the project team fully understands the reason for the EPSS, and creating mechanisms for reporting on progress. The next step is specification analysis, which involves feasibility studies, focus groups, task analysis, developing functional specifications, and choices of hardware and software. The results of the analyses are presented to the client, and if he or she decides to proceed with an EPSS, then the team can develop a maintenance strategy, prepare a development plans, and then actually build the system. Building includes developing the interface, the metaphor for the desktop, and data structure; it also comprises design and prototype, and procurement and integration of content into the system. Then the EPSS must be installed and systematically evaluated, with the team all the while alert to bio-factors in the work environment, like any dehumanizing effects of the system. (BEW)