ABSTRACT
This chapter explores modern interpretations and uses of task analysis and presents real-world case studies of new methodologies and of task analysis applied to a variety of domains. Task analysis means understanding users’ work. Thus, task analysis encompasses all sorts of techniques, including naturalistic observations and interviews, shadowing users or doing “day in the life of” studies, conducting ethnographic interviews, and observing and listening to users who are performing specific tasks. A critical aspect of being able to do task analysis throughout a project is getting this and all other usability activities into the project plan. The more strongly a project team uses a formal project plan, the more critical it is to get usability activities, such as task analysis, into the plan. Rich persona descriptions that encompass user, task, and environment information are particularly useful for commercial products, which often begin with market segmentation that classifies and describes potential customers.
