Checklist

A list of items to be checked at key stages of a procedure. The term originates from aviation where pilots and ground crew would have lists of items to be checked at certain key points, such as when preparing for landing or when releasing an aircraft for active service.

The use of checklists is an important first step when making an activity systematic. It is easy to create a simple list of things to be looked at even when the process of validating the items on the list is not well documented. Another good element of simple checklists is that users can quickly dismiss elements that are not applicable in this situation, so such items don't clutter up the process, but yet are taken into account.

There is a close relationship between checklists and classification schemes. Often the quickest way to get started when creating a new checklist is to list the key values of the related aspects and for each of these attempt to add an item to be checked.

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