RequirementsAnalysis and

DesignEngineering

Southern Methodist University

CSE 7313

Module 7 - User and Task Analysis

Topics

Introduction to user and task analysis

Thinking about the usersThinking about tasksThinking about the users

environment

What makes a product usable?

They reflect the workflows that are familiar or comfortable

They support the users learning styles They are compatible in the users working

environments They encompass a design concept that is

familiar to the users They have a consistency of presentation

Understanding how the user performs the task

What the users goals are; what they are trying to achieve

What users actually do to achieve those goals

What personal, social, and cultural characteristics the users bring to the tasks

How users are influenced by their physical environment

Understanding how the user performs the task

• How users previous knowledge and experience influence how they think about their work and the workflow they follow to perform their tasks

• What users value most that will make a new interface be a delight for them (speed? accuracy? help in recovering from errors? human contact? fun? challenge?)

Why isn’t this done already?

Marketing knows the users The product is new - there aren’t any

users to observe The users are all too different - we can’t

possible visit all of them We don’t have enough time in the

schedule We don’t have enough money in the

budget

Where does user and task analysis come from?

Anthropology the study of people

Ethnographypractice of immersing oneself in a culture in

order to describe that culture Cognitive psychology

study of how people think and learn Rhetoric

communicating with others through mediums

Focusing on users

How do they think about their relationship to their work?

Is what you are developing related to their primary work or something they will use occasionally?

What and how much do they know about the subject matter you are designing for?

Focusing on users

• What tools do they know how to use?

• What motivates them in doing their job?

• What motivates them in using their personal time at home?

• What technical skills do they bring to performing their work?

• What languages are they comfortable using?

Users that must be studied

Individuals who buy the software and use it without assistance or interaction from others

Individuals who use the interface and information as part of their work, even though they did not buy the software

Groups of people who use the software and information as part of a larger business process

Those who administer the software

Individuals who repair products that are broken or who troubleshoot systems

Those that install products for themselves and other and may also use the software

Customers of the users and others who are affected by users working with the interface

Users that must be studied

Starting a user and task analysis

Assemble a group of people in your organization who regularly interact with the users customer servicetrainingmarketing

Brainstorm a preliminary list of users and potential users

Starting a user and task analysis

• Create a user/task matrix or a user/characteristic matrix to serve as an initial model of your community of users

• Discuss the characteristics that you assume are typical of your user community

• Decide how to test your assumption

Assemble a user profile team

Salespeople who call or visit buyers and users

Sales engineering people who install or customize products at user sites

Marketing professionals will have conducted research studies

Trainers who work with users in classroom settings

Telephone support personnel

Assemble a user profile team

Field support personnelConsultants who study and advise

on interactions with user communities

Former users who now work in your organization

Brainstorm a list if users

experience on the job education level background of training age, gender, physical differences geographic locations, wage differences language skills, terminology differences job level

Create an initial user/task matrixTasks likely to be performed

Users Gettingcomfortablewith software

Basicuserdifference

Advancedsoftware use

Trainingthepatients

Customizingthe software

Patients X XPatientfamilies

X X X

Noviceclinicians

X X X

Expertclinicians

X X X X

Users and their jobs

Do the users all have the same job title? Do the users have different job titles that

reflect wide differences in skills and responsibilities?

Are the users professionals who have learned aspects of their jobs in school?

Do your users consider their jobs to define their modes of behavior?

Issues to consider about tasks

How did your users learn to perform the tasks that they do?

How long have they been doing these tasks? Have the tasks changed over time? Do the user perform many varied tasks in a

typical day? Do the users teach others to perform the

same tasks? Which people in the organization are

considered the experts?

Issues to consider about tools

What tools are the users using today to perform their tasks?

How did they learn to use these tools? How comfortable are they using the tools? Are the users familiar with technology that

is similar to your intended design? To what extent do their tools define that

they do?

Mental models and vocabulary

Mental models are internal pictures of how things worka term from cognitive psychologyvague, amorphous, individual, and

changeable collection of associations in peoples minds

Users mental models will emerge through conversations with them

Mental models and vocabulary

People use their mental models to make associations between information (words, pictures, sounds, smells) they are learning and information they already know

Mental Models

The picture of a trash can on a Mac is associated with a physical trash can used to throw something away (throwing away files)

Designers also used trash can to eject a floppy disk from the drive - this confused users who thought that they would be “throwing away” the information on the floppy!!

What is task analysis?

Things related to goals and tasks “Things” are usually considered work

admitting a patient to the hospital find a customers order in a databasesend a message to everybody on the project

teamput up a new web sitechange payroll codesset up a new computer at home

Users goalsUsers goals inside a company

keeping my jobgetting done so I can go home on timeMaking the boss happy so I get a good

reviewCompanies goals for users doing tasks

increasing revenueincreasing the number of applications that

get processeddecrease the cost of providing support

Norman’s seven stage cycle

Forming the goalForming the intentionSpecifying the actionExecuting the actionPerceiving the state of the worldInterpreting the state of the worldEvaluating the outcome

Simple situation

User forms goal User forms intention

(decides task) User specifies action(s) User does the action(s) User perceives the state of

the world User interprets the state of

the world User evaluates the

outcome

Go outside to get some fresh air

Open the door “It looks like I pull this

handle here” Pulls on the handle The door didn’t open “Well that didn’t work. I

guess I need to push it” Didn’t get outside yet. If

the user still wants to meet the goal follow steps 3-7 again this time pushing the door.

Different types and levels of task analysis

How work gets done when several people are involved (workflow analysis)

What a single individual does throughout the day or week or month (job analysis)

How workflow analysis interacts with job analysis

The order in which users do tasks How a large task is made up of subtasks

Workflow analysis

Understanding how a particular process is accomplished if several people are involved in completing the work (business process analysis)

Many companies are trying to simplify business processes

Look for redundancies or unnecessary steps

Filling a prescription

At least two people involvedpatientpharmacist

Others may be involved relative or friendcaregiverclerk or assistant receptionist at doctors officedoctor

Filling a prescription

Patient contacts the pharmacy Pharmacist or clerk takes the information Pharmacist looks up the patients

prescription Pharmacist call the doctor for approval Receptionist send the call to the doctor Pharmacist waits for the call back After the call back the prescrition is filled

Workflow analysis

Workflow analysis is an important part of task analysis because the situation in which different types of people are involved in the process is much more common than processes individuals do alone

If a task analysis is done by only looking at one part of the workflow the risk is that the product will not be used because it is in compatible with the rest of the workflow

Job analysis

Understanding all the work that a person does in a certain position during the day, week, or month

Workflow analysis is a horizontal picture of how work moves across people

Job analysis is a vertical picture of all the types of work that flow through a person

Job analysis

Benefitsfind new marketing and development

opportunitiesunderstand specific features to build into

the productlearn what pressures they are under and

what they value

Factors in job analysis

Frequency (how often tasks are performed)

Criticality (how important is each task) Time to complete (how time consuming) Difficulty (problems accomplishing tasks) Division of responsibility (do all the

people in that job do this task?)

Developing a task list A task is any observable, measurable action that

has an observable beginning and an observable end.

Task list for an e-mail programwrite a messagesend a message receive a message read a message that you received reply to a messagesave a message to look at it late forward a message send a formatted file with the message

Process analysis, task sequences

In an e-mail program these sets of tasks have a natural sequencewrite a message

comes beforesend a messageReceive a message from someone else

reply to a message or forward a message to someone else

Task Hierarchies

Job

Task Task Task Task

Subtask Subtask Subtask

Task analysis is hierarchical. You can break up a job intotasks and each task into subtasks

Procedural analysisJob

Start

Action (step)

Decision

Action (step)

Action (step)

Action (step)

End

Other path

You can carry a taskanalysis down to theindividual steps anddecisions users makeas they carry out thetask

Example task analysisTV is off. VCR is off. TV and VCRare set up and connected. Nocable box

User looks for buttons on front ofmachine. Gets down on knees to dothis

User is using priorexperience; says othermachine worked frombuttons

Are most VCRs keptthis close to the floor? Takes off bifocals to see better.

Complains that buttons are smalland black on black

The light i this livingroom is too dim to seethe TV. Are most VCRsused in dim lighting?

Opens front panel, reads labels,says “Nothing here is relevant”

Note that the user has triedto solve the problem by trialand error, has not yet goneto the manuel.

Decides to use the manual. Sayshe can’t possibly read the wholething

Looks in table of contents. Findssection for setting the timer. Turnsto that page. Reads that he must geta menu up on the screen

Puts manual down. Picks up 2remotes. Turns on TV with 1 remote. Turns on VCR with other.

Picks up manual again. Reads “Press program button on remotecontrol. Does that

Ask about how hetypically uses a manual

Inference: he jumpeddirectly to a page partway through the manualbecause he just wants toget the task done, notlearn anything more aboutthe VCR

It’s hard to hold a manual open and operatetwo remote controls at thesame time

Types of users

Any particular user at any particular moment in time with any particular product is at one of the four stages of usenoviceadvanced beginnercompetent performerexpert

Characteristics of novice users

Fear of failure, fear of the unknownFocus on accomplishing real workImpatient with learning concepts

rather than performing tasksTheoretical understanding only - no

practical experience

Characteristics of advanced beginners

Focus on accomplishing real workImpatient with learning concepts

rather than performing tasksRandomly access tasksBy adding new and progressively

more complicated tasks, begin to develop an empirically based mental model

Characteristics of competent performers

Focus on performing 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 tasks fit into a consistent mental model of the interface as a whole

Characteristics of competent performers

Interest in solving simple problems by applying a conceptual framework to diagnose and correct errors

Characteristics of expert performers

Focus on developing a comprehensive and consistent mental model of the product functionality and the interface

Ability to understand complex problems and find solutions

Interest in learning about concepts and theories behind a product’s design and use

Interest in interacting with other expert users

Thinking about the users’ environment

Why is environment important?

People do not perform their work in isolation

Influenced by the activity around themphysical characteristics of the workplacetype of equipment being usedwork relationships with other people

Product must fit into environment or it will be frustrating to use or be rejected

What aspects are important?

Physical environment light levelsplacement of controlsamount of space to work innoisy or quietdirt, dust, pollution temperature, humiditypower availabilitydangers in the environment

Working at home?

Users in an office will probably have a T1 line

Users at home may have a slower modemmay require different strategies for getting the

information they needmay need a longer power cordautomatic save feature (disruptions from kids)

Adequate space?

“Standard” may not be so standard Is there room for a mouse or detached

keyboard? Is there room for paper manuals or should

on-line help be used? Adequate space for optimal viewing angle? Bookcases in Japan are narrower then in

UScubicle walls are rare

A noisy environment?

Noisy environments make learning more difficult

Sound cues (bells, beeps, etc) may distract co-workers

Will they be able to hear the audio tonespeople with hearing aids have a hard time

hearing in the presence of background noise

Dirt, dust, and wind

Will touch screen be usable if the screen smears from oil?

Working in a cleanroom may require no paper (manuals) at all

Dust can make computers unusableWind can make the use of manuals

and paper almost unusablemaintenance technicians

Adequate lighting

Can the user see the screen? The manuals? The controls?

Can they see the images in dim light? Will colors for warnings or cautions be

adequately visible on the screen? VCR black on black buttons hard to see

probably designed in a bright lab

TemperatureExtremes of temperature and elevation

disk drives have a hard time working at high elevations because there is not enough air to float the disk above the read mechanism

Cold temperatures make it difficult to use controlswill users be wearing gloves?

High temperature and humidity may fog screens or make hands slip

How quickly must they react?

Users may be measured by how quickly type can react (customers standing in line)

Are they in any danger?what happens when the users make

mistakes?ATM machines are a focal point of

robberies

What aspects are important?

• Social environment– are tasks performed quickly and/or

accurately– resources available to answer questions– do people who share info work in same

location– social hierarchy in the organization– how do physical and social

environments interact– relationship between users and

customers

What aspects are important?

• Cultural environment– national cultural influences– work in different cities, states, regions,

etc– professional culture with particular

values

Making the business case for site visits

Verifying your assumptionPrimary reason for traveling to user sites

is to challenge or verify your assumptionsMay meet with resistance to watching

users and listening to themThe users doing the new process will be

the same users that did the old process!Very rare that a new product is so new

that there is nothing in existence to study

Preparing a business proposal

Analyze the return on investmentchanges later are more expensive

Meeting or exceeding the competitionare they doing usability studies

Calculating the time required to conduct an analysis

Preparing a business proposal

Task Hours per task Labor cost per taskBrainstorming and initialuser/task matrix andoutlining the proposed site

80 $5600

Planning the site visit 34 2380Recruiting participants 42 2940Conducting six days of sitevisits/two observers

120 8400

Analysis and report 80 5600Total hours and labor costs 356 $24,920

Selecting TechniquesContextual inquiries; a philosophy as

much as a techniquePlan (understand the issues for the visit)Select the users to represent the right diversityTreat the users as a partnerWatch, listen and talk with users about their

workMake the conversation concreteTake your cues from the user (make sure you

are interpreting things correctly)

Techniques

Get the user to talk aloud while doing the taskdetermine the users mental models

Talk right after the task (if you can’t do it during the task)sometimes it is best to be a “fly on the

wall”

Techniques

When to be unobtrusive;the task involves helping another person

(call on the phone, etc)the task involves safety (air traffic controller)the task requires a high degree of

concentration (solving complex mathematical problems)

you are timing the taskthe user is on a deadline (working under

pressure)

Role playing and staged scenarios

Not as credible as data collected under actual circumstances (this was done for the AA SABRE travel info Network)

Must have relevant scenariosAdvantage is that you can use the

same scenario at several sites and observe different users handle the same scenario

Cue recall with videotapes

Sometime, users do not want or do not have the time to interview and talk but are willing to be videotaped

Questions can be answered later about tasks that need more explanation or interpretation

Doing a process analysis

Interview and ask questionswhen does the first task in the process happenwhat triggers itwho does itwhat information is required to do the taskwhat are the major steps in the taskwho is the next person in the chain of the

processwhen does the next task happen

Ethnographic interviews

“Top down” approach Start by getting a general framework from

the users Use that knowledge to structure and

understand future observation Contextual inquiry, on the other hand, is

bottom up (observing and gathering large samples of work and then develop

Collecting artifacts

Artifacts can be paper or screen shots “cheat sheets” forms that trigger data entry or the start of

a process forms and reports that get printed at

various times during a process examples of output from tasks hand-written notes or logs as reminders

Collecting storiesGather stories of real situations“critical-incident technique” - a way to

gather stories in a short period of timeask each interviewee to recall a specific

critical incidentthen probe for more information about itquestions are planned in advanceiteratecan be used as a base for scenario-based

design

Working with users away from the work site

Sometimes it is hard to go to the users sitesecurity reasonsequipment that is not portable to the users site

Usability lab Conference room Ask the users to bring example of real

work

Market research techniques

Meet with users in focus groups facilitator skilled in asking questions, getting

opinions, etc focus groups don’t show behavior

User surveysdesigned to gather information from a large

group of people (direct-mail questionnaires, telephone survey, fax, web)

Meeting users at trade shows

Other

Bringing users to requirements-gathering sessions focus on functionality rather than usabilitywhat users say may not be what they dousers talk about the typical casewhat they need may not be the best way to

solve the problemgroup dynamics problems

Including a user on the design team

Conclusion

Requirements elicitation is a collaborative decision-making activity involving users, developers and customers

Dependent on the diversity and experience of the problem being formulated

Techniques should be tailored to the project