ABSTRACT
One of the problems with the description of task analysis methodology in the ergonomics literature is that how it is carried out, and what it is used for, is not explained in detail. Some of those who have come more recently to task analysis activities from, for example, a concern with human-computer interaction or from the co-operative work area have criticized things that they have assumed that ergonomists do. For example, they may com ment on the use of inappropriate underlying theory or they may assume that ergonomists take a very mechanistic view of the people in the system. It is appropriate therefore to explain how ergonomists actually work. Task analysis methodologies have not been widely reported in academic journals. They are often buried away in reports or book chapters that are not widely known to the other disciplines. Task analysis can be seen as a stage in some activity, usually a design activity, but that might, for example, mean design of a training programme. In a sense, task analysis is a tool to do a job rather than an end in itself. By focusing not on this, but on the elegance and the theoretical strength of task analysis, it is possible to miss some of the point of what it is there for. Task analysis is, in many ways, a transition phase that is gone through and then put aside when one moves on to another activity.
