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Task Description and Task Analysis

Task analysis methods are used to understand tasks performed by users. This document discusses task analysis, including task decomposition, knowledge-based analysis, and entity-relationship techniques. It also covers sources of information for task analysis such as documentation, observation, and interviews. Finally, it discusses uses of task analysis such as for requirements elicitation, systems design, and interface design.

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Muhammad Bilal
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42 views19 pages

Task Description and Task Analysis

Task analysis methods are used to understand tasks performed by users. This document discusses task analysis, including task decomposition, knowledge-based analysis, and entity-relationship techniques. It also covers sources of information for task analysis such as documentation, observation, and interviews. Finally, it discusses uses of task analysis such as for requirements elicitation, systems design, and interface design.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Bilal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Task Description and

Task Analysis
Overview

 What is task analysis?


 Task Analysis Methods
 task decomposition
 knowledge based analysis
 entity-relationship techniques
 Sources of Information
 Uses of Task Analysis
Task Description
 Descriptions of business tasks have been used within software
development for many years.
 During the 1970s and 1980s, "business scenarios" were
commonly used as the basis for acceptance testing, i.e., the last
testing stage before the customer paid the final fee installment
and "accepted" the system.
 Task descriptions are used throughout development, from early
requirements activities through prototyping, evaluation, and
testing.
Task Description Techniques
There are different flavors of task descriptions,
and we shall introduce three of them here:
 scenarios,
 use cases,
 essential use cases.
What is Task Analysis?
 Process of analyzing people's jobs:
 what people do
 what things they work with
 what they must know

 Not limited to parts of computer system


Approaches to task analysis

1. Task decomposition - splitting task into


(ordered) subtasks

2. Knowledge based techniques - what the


user knows about the task and how knowledge is
organized

3. Entity-relation based analysis - relationships


between objects and actions in the task
Differences from other techniques
 Systems analysis
 focus - system design
 Cognitive models
 focus - internal mental state as user performs task
 granularity – small `unit' task

 Task analysis
 focus – user and external observable actions
 granularity - whole job
Task Decomposition

Aims:
 describe the actions people do
 structure them within task subtask hierarchy
 describe order of subtasks

Focus on Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA)


It uses:
 text and diagrams to show hierarchy
 plans to describe order
Textual HTA description
Hierarchy description ...
0. in order to clean the house
1. get the vacuum cleaner out
2. fix the appropriate attachment
3. clean the rooms
3.1. clean the hall
3.2. clean the living rooms
3.3. clean the bedrooms
4. empty the dust bag
5. put vacuum cleaner and attachments away

... and plans


Plan 0: do 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 in that order. When the dust bag gets full do 4
Plan 3: do any of 3.1, 3.2 or 3.3 in any order depending on which
rooms need cleaning

N.B. only the plans denote order


Diagrammatic HTA

Check/improve it!
Taxonomy - Task Description
Hierarchy (TDH)
Three types of branch point in taxonomy:
 XOR - object in one and only one branch
 AND - object must be in both
represents multiple classifications
 OR - can be in one, many or none

 Example:
wash/wipe AND
function XOR
wipe front wipers, rear wipers
wash front washers, rear washers
position XOR
wipe front wipers, rear wipers
wash front washers, rear washers
Entity-Relationship Based Techniques

 Emphasis on objects, actions and their


relationships
 Similar to DB design and object-oriented
analysis, but …
 includes non-computer entities
 emphasis is domain understanding not
implementation
Sources of Information: Early
analysis
 Documentation
 manuals, training materials
 say how supposed to do task, not how actually
done
 Observation
 watch people as they perform task
 passively or actively / in lab or at site
 post – task walkthrough
 Interviews
 use documentation to ask questions
 domain experts / managers / workers
Sources of Information: Detailed
analysis

 list nouns (objects) and verbs (actions)
 beware technical language and context
 `the rain poured‘
 `I poured the tea'
 Sorting and classifying
 grouping or arranging words on cards
 ranking objects/actions for task
 relevance (see Ch. 11)
 use commercial outliner
Sources of Information: Analysis
 Iterative process:
 data sources  analysis
 But costly, so use cheap sources where
available
Uses of Task Analysis
 Manuals, Training Materials and Documentation
 HTA used to structure manual
 Knowledge-based techniques best for structuring course

 Requirements elicitation and systems design


 lifts focus from system to use
 suggests candidates for automation
 uncovers user's conceptual model
 Detailed interface design
 taxonomies suggest menu layout
 object/action lists suggest interface objects
 task frequency guides default choices
 existing task sequences guide dialogue design
Exercise
 Consider the library catalog service, and the
task of borrowing a book. Provide HTA.
HTA of borrowing book
Exercise
 Perform hierarchical task analysis for the goal
of arranging a meeting. Include all plans in
your answer. Express the task analysis
textually and graphically..

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