BY BRITTANY PITCHER & CHRIS SMITH

WorkWORLD“Empowerment Through

Decision Support Technology”

What is WorkWorld?What is WorkWorld? Ease of ConvenienceEase of Convenience

WorkWORLD is a decision support software designed for

personal computers to help people with disabilities,

advocates, benefit counselors, & others explore & understand

how to best use work incentives associated with various Federal

& State disability & poverty benefit programs.

WorkWORLD also automates the computation of benefits &

takes into account the complex interactions of income, benefit programs, & work incentives.

WorkWORLD's interface is split into two main areas:

The input area The results area

WorkWORLD has an elaborate help &

information system that the user can access in a variety of ways. As each

question appears, context-specific help about the question or information

about possible answers is just a mouse click away.

Facts About WorkWORLD

Input AreaInput Area Results AreaResults Area

Within the input area, WorkWORLD asks the

user a series of questions specific to his current situation.

Each new question is based on previous

answers in order to make the process as simple as possible.

Once all questions have been answered, a set of results are

generated.

Results appear in numerical, graphic, & textual formats. The numerical results show benefits, earned & unearned income, &

expenses in tabular form for each situation. These results are

available for viewing graphically in several ways for better

understanding.

Additionally, text results provide warnings, notes, &

recommendations related to the circumstances entered in a

situation.

Input Area vs. Results Area

Figure A: Numerical ResultsIn the given example,

a customer, Jerry Calibrassi, is shown

data information relevant to his social

security benefits.

The graph shows that under certain given

conditions, Jerry accumulates a

certain amount of money in SSI benefits

each month, using both his personal information & his parents’ personal

information.

How to Get WorkWORLD

WorkWORLD is now available only by order, on a CD shipped through the mail to you. Online downloads of the WorkWORLD software products are currently unavailable.

You may purchase new versions (on CD) of the WorkWORLD software products: $50 - Complete WorkWORLD software (includes the

Help/Information System) $25 - Stand-alone WorkWORLD Help/Information System

software only Each paid order includes a free one-year automatic

subscription to all available software updates.For additional information on how to purchase

WorkWORLD for your personal or business uses, visit: www.workworld.org/howtogetWW.html#purchase_orders