Simulators are frequently used for training, especially in technical and military environments. Field studies showed that the development of training simulators is often system oriented, and that the possibilities for the support of (individual) instruction, practice and feedback are not fully exploited. The effectiveness of training programs is hard to establish, because there is little attention for systematic assessment of the trainees' performance.

The MASTER methodology was developed to support the determination of functional specifications for training simulators and the design of simulator based training programs. The methodology takes training needs as the starting point and supports the designer to focus on training aspects during the iterative design process.