ABSTRACT
A method for predicting user error in transactions with simple machines has been developed (Baber and Stanton 1994; Stanton and Baber 1996) which is called Task Analysis for Error Identification (TAFEI). This method combines a description of human activity (using hierarchical task analysis) with a description of human-machine interaction (using state-space diagrams). The method has been used to describe and predict human interaction with devices for a variety of tasks such as boiling a kettle, withdrawing money from an automated teller machine, purchasing a rail ticket, recording a television program, and copying music from tape-to-tape. An example of the latter is illustrated in Figure 1, and further details may be found in Baber and Stanton (1994).
