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HFE 451/651 User and Task Analysis

HFE 451/651 User and Task Analysis. From: User and task analysis for interface design. Hackos & Redish, 1998. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Topics. Needs Analysis User Analysis Task Analysis Conceptual Evaluation Plan. Needs Analysis.

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HFE 451/651 User and Task Analysis

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  1. HFE 451/651User and Task Analysis From: User and task analysis for interface design. Hackos & Redish, 1998. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

  2. Topics • Needs Analysis • User Analysis • Task Analysis • Conceptual Evaluation Plan

  3. Needs Analysis • Establish that a system (or product) is needed based on goals of organization and/or marketplace. • Basic goals • Purpose • features • Specify what will be required in the system and what would be “nice to have”.

  4. User Analysis • Understanding the users • (examples) • Who are the users? • What do the users want? • What are the users goals? • What are individual characteristics that may affect behavior with software or information designed? • What do they know that helps them perform their tasks? • What values to they bring to their job? • Do they want a user interface that is fun, not boring?

  5. Understanding the users (cont.) • Are they interested in saving money, saving time, becoming an expert, having an easy job to do? • What is their prior experience with similar tools and interfaces? • What jobs or tasks will the be performing? Under what conditions?

  6. User Analysis • Users you may want to study include: • users who buy and use the software alone (e.g. at home) • users who use it as part of the work they do • groups of people who use software as part of a larger business process • software administrators • users who repair or troubleshoot • users who install • customers of the users

  7. User Analysis • Some examples of data to collect • Age, gender, physical differences, • experience in job, educational level, background of training • geographic location, wage differences, culture and nationalities • language skills, terminology differences • job level (eg. technicians vs engineers, or technicians vs doctors) • Assumptions about the users (how to test these assumptions) • Mental models users have • Individual differences • Motivational differences

  8. Task Analysis • Complete description of tasks, subtasks, and methods for performing task. • Analysis of users tasks - what they do and what they need to do. • Function analysis - determining what functions the system as a whole (computer and user) will include • Task-Function allocation - What will be allocated to the various components of the system (e.g. what will the user do, what will the system do) • Requirements Analysis - What will be the requirements for the design.

  9. Task Analysis • User Goals • Relating Goals to tasks and actions • Choices of task to meet goals • What users do when they encounter problems

  10. Types of Task Analyses • Work Flow Analysis • What is the process by which they accomplish the work. • This includes work that flows across people. • Where are communication links?

  11. Types of Task Analyses • Job Analysis • Understanding what a person does in their particular job. What tasks do they perform? • Frequency: How often do they perform the tasks? • Criticality: How important are the tasks? • Time: How time consuming are the tasks? • Difficulty: How difficult are the tasks? • Division of responsibility: Do all people in the job perform this task?

  12. Techniques for Task Analysis • Task Lists or Inventory • Good for pre-design. • What tasks do the user want to accomplish using the product? (Does not tell you how!) • Example: Email Program • write message • send message • receive message • read message • save message • etc..

  13. Techniques for Task Analysis • Process analysis or task sequences • Series of tasks that users are likely to do (or must do) in a certain order • E.g. write a mail message precedes sending it. • Example, operational sequence diagram

  14. Techniques for Task Analysis • Task hierarchies • Task can be decomposed into their sub-tasks

  15. Techniques for Task Analysis • Procedural analysis • Determine what a user does in performing a specific task. What decisions and actions must be made? • Shows how users are currently using tools.

  16. Consider stages of users • Novices • Novices are goal and task oriented • Novices do no want to learn, just do • Advanced Beginners • Focus on accomplishing task • Impatient with learning concepts rather than performing tasks • Randomly access tasks • By adding new and more complex tasks begin to develop empirically based mental model

  17. Consider stages of users • Competent performers • Focus on accomplishing more complex tasks that require many coordinated actions • Ability to plan how to perform a complex series of tasks to achieve a goal • Willingness to learn how the task fits into a consistent mental model of the interface as a whole • Interest in solving simple problems by applying a conceptual framework to diagnose and correct errors

  18. Consider stages of users • Experts • Focus on developing a comprehensive and consistent mental model of the product • Ability to understand complex problems and find solutions • Interest in learning about concepts and theories behind a product • Interest in interacting with other experts

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