As one of a series of studies being conducted to develop a useful (predictive) model of the instructional design process that is appropriate to military technical training settings, this study performed initial evaluations on two pieces of instructional design software developed by M. David Merrill and colleagues at Utah State University i.e., Merrill's Naming Transaction Shell and Merrill's Checklist Procedures Transaction Shell. The software provided the capability to design, develop, and deliver computer-based instruction for teaching both the parts of a device and simple checklist procedures pertaining to the device. The primary objective of the study was to identify the relevant variables to be used in determining the acceptability, the generalizability, and the effectiveness of the instructional design software. In an initial study, the Naming Transaction Shell was evaluated by a subject matter expert with no previous computer experience who was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A second study conducted with six subject matter experts and the same instructor used two transaction shells--naming the parts and checklist procedures. In each study, subjects had about 30 hours to design and develop a lesson module for one hour of student instruction. In the second study, a simple drawing program was used to create graphics. Both studies indicate that the transaction shells provided a highly cost-effective authoring environment and that this approach has good potential for courseware authoring. (SLD)