Hello again everyone!

This Friday’s blog will be all about Task Analysis!

For those of you who don’t know, let’s first define what is a task analysis. In lecture we were introduced to the following formal definition:

The study of what an operator (or team of operators) is
required to do (their actions and cognitive processes) in
order to achieve system goals.

(Stanton , Salmon, Walker, Baber & Jenkins, 2005, p45)

For every process there are steps required to complete it. A task analysis helps determine what these steps are, what tools are required, what background knowledge is necessary, and how long it will take before a step is complete.

Before creating a task analysis, I think it is extremely important to establish the following:

Why are you creating a task analysis? Who is it for?

This is important, because it impacts your approach when creating the rest of your task analysis.

Now, since I love assistive technology, I’m going to make
up an assistive technology example. I will also discuss why in assistive technology
specifically it is important to know why you are developing the task analysis.

So, here is our scenario:

David is a man who is blind. He always bought his tea from a cafe down the street from his office. However, to save money, he wants to learn how to use the electric kettle in his company’s kitchen. He asks us to help him learn how to use a tea kettle.

In order to help David, we are going to do a task analysis. Initially, we break the process down into four steps.

1. Make sure the kettle is plugged in
2. Fill the kettle with water
3. Turn on the electric kettle
4. Pour the hot water into the cup and add tea.

We meet David in the company’s kitchen. We tell him the process, and already he has some questions.

• If the kettle isn’t plugged in, where is the outlet located?
• How do I know when the electric kettle is done heating up the water?

Now, in the case of David, it is probably easiest to just physically guide him to the outlet, and assume he will remember where it is in the future. But what if you were giving these directions to David remotely? Is it your responsibility to also help David find the outlet, or would you consider that something that you shouldn’t include in your directions? You have to decide what level of detail you need to give David. In this scenario, I would say the right amount of detail is however much David wants from you. In a more general understanding, your client or user will largely influence the level of detail that your task analysis needs.

Many electric kettles have visual indicators that it is done heating up the water. A light turns off or a switch changes position. But David cannot see those visual cues. What else happens when the kettle is done boiling the water? When the switch returns to its original position, it makes a click noise. When the kettle is done boiling, the water stops making noise as it stops moving in the container. It is your job to make sure that the information you provide is useful for your audience.

Even if you are not interested in assistive technology, this is an important factor to consider. Often, task analyses are completed to determine if a process once done by a human can be taken over by a robot. However, a robot probably has a different way of processing information than a human worker. In this case, a task needs to be explained at a level of detail and in such a way that the steps can be translated to match the robot’s capabilities.

When doing a task analysis, it is important to think beyond the way YOU would do something. You need to also consider how your audience would do it. Otherwise, you have created a set of instructions that aren’t useful for your client.

Task analysis can be challenging. I recommend having people with no knowledge on how to complete the task try and do it based solely on your task analysis. Based on both their interpretation of the directions and their feedback, you can iteratively improve your task analysis.

Now, based on what we’ve discussed, the task analysis we gave David can definitely be improved. What would you change about the task analysis? Let me know in the comments below!