Janice Redish
Redish & Associates
Dennis Wixon
Microsoft
Defining Task Analysis
Task Analysis = The Entire Front-End, Predesign Process
Task Analysis = One Element of the Front-End Process
Task Analysis = Many Techniques That Come Into Play at Different Times During the Design and Development Process
Task Analysis = One Element of the Postdesign Process
Task Analysis in This Chapter
Considering Four Principles That Underlie Our View of Task Analysis
Task Analysis Is an Integral Part of a Broader Analysis
Task Analysis Includes Understanding Users’ Goals
Starting With Task Analysis as Independent of Any Speci?c Device
Task Analysis Is Relevant at all Stages of the Process
Practical Reality Impinges on What We Actually Do
Planning for a Task Analysis (Issues to Consider)
Getting Into the Project Plan
Getting Sign-Off and Meeting Schedules
Providing Useful and Usable Data
Deciding What the Project Team Needs
Deciding on an Appropriate Level of Granularity
Deciding Where to Start
Gathering Reusable Data
Going to Different Users at Different Times
Collecting Task Analysis Data
A Bit of History
Preparing Philosophically to Work With Users
Selecting Users and Environments
Conducting Site Visits
Bringing Users to You (Field Studies in the Lab)
Analyzing and Presenting the Data
Analyzing the Data
Presenting the Data
Selecting Users and Environments
Considering Task Analysis at Different Stages
Strategic Planning and Predesign Stages
Information Architecture and Concept Design Stages
Interface Design and Early Prototypes Stages
Conclusions
References
Figures
Figure 48.1: In Triangulating information about users, tasks, and users’ environments.
Figure 48.2: Donald Norman ’s view of how people get things done (1998,p.48)
Figure 48.3: An abstract illustration of an affinity diagram in progress.
Figure 48.4: A partial example of results from an affinity diagram.
Figure 48.5: Ellen’s appointment book as an example of an artifact.
Figure 48.6: Part of a flow diagram to present task analysis data.
Figure 48.7: An example of one type of persona (user profile).
Figure 48.8: An example of a scenario.
Figure 48.9: Part of a sequence diagram.