Training can be described as “the acquisition of skills, concepts or attitudes that result in improved performance within the job environment”. Analysis looks at each aspect of an operational domain so that the initial skills, concepts and attitudes of the human elements of a system can be effectively identified and appropriate training can be specified.

Training Analysis is most often used as part of the system development process. Due to the close tie between the design of the system and the training required, in most cases it runs alongside the development to capture the training requirements.

The role of training analysis is to build a formal bridge between the available design data and the training media and training objectives, in order to facilitate the transfer of training elements into the operational environment.

For complex multi-user system a user-to-task map is often constructed to present the relationship between the tasks and the identified team structure and also to identify new groups of users that would need to have an understanding of the system. The training gap is assessed by a comparison between the goals and tasks undertaken by the individuals and the existing training.

There is a wide variety of training media that can be used, ranging from traditional lecture-based teaching to sophisticated simulators. Different media will be more or less appropriate for different activities. It is necessary to determine the most suitable and cost-effective training media for the different areas.