ABSTRACT
So far in the book, HTA has been represented in the form of hierarchical diagrams. This is probably the clearest way to communicate analyses since it shows how subordinate goals and their plans are organised to represent the goal they are redescribing. Of concern, however, is the tendency for people to assume that HTA is only ever represented through diagrams - that if a task description is represented as a hierarchy, then it is HTA; if the description is in the form of a table, then it is not. This view is quite misleading. HTA, as described in Chapter 2, is a systematic process of reviewing goals in terms of suboperations and plans, and continuing this process until there is no benefit in going further. 'Thus, representation of HTA must include reference to why further redescription within the analysis was stopped at any point and any assumptions about the context of the work. To provide a satisfactory record of the work, it is generally necessary to use tables as well as diagrams to represent the analysis.
