ABSTRACT
Task analysis is an important branch of applied psychology and ergonomics and covers a range of independent techniques used by scientists and practitioners to describe and evaluate what should be done to achieve particular job requirements. Task analysis might be performed for a variety of purposes, such as development of more efficient job performance techniques, design of man-machine and human-computer systems, and development of training procedures. It is difficult to imagine contemporary work psychology and ergonomics without task analysis as a part of them. However, a review of recent discussions on task analysis reveals that task analysis lacks a solid theoretical background and consists of a number of independent techniques that lack sufficient scientific foundation. Task analysis is often reduced to the description of various techniques repeatedly covered in one publication after another, for example Annett (2000), but there is no discussion on the necessity to develop unified and standardized procedures that are particularly important for the ergonomic design. Poor design practices result
CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................63 3.2 Task Concept in Work Studies ...................................................................65 3.3 Historic Overview of Goal Concepts in Psychology and
Ergonomics ................................................................................................... 67 3.4 Anticipation from Activity Theory Perspectives .................................... 70 3.5 Concept of Goal in Activity Theory .......................................................... 73 3.6 Goal and Motivation in Task Analysis .....................................................75 3.7 Analysis of the Concept of Goal in Human-Computer
Interaction Task Analysis............................................................................ 78 3.8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................84 References ...............................................................................................................86
