User and Task Analysis

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User and Task Analysis

• Requirements Analysis in HCI.
• Perform a comprehensive and systematic analysis
  of user task requirements through studying users
  to understand needs, expectations, tasks and work
  process and determine implications for the
  interface of this information.
• The characteristics of the intended users/ User
  profile. Relevant factors may include the
  knowledge, skill, experience, education,training,
  physical attributes, habits and motor-sensory
  capabilities for the people concerned. Where
  distinctive groups of users exist (such as
  novices and experts) then their respective
  attributes should be identified and taken into
  account.
• The tasks the users will perform.
• The environment in which the users will use the
  system

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Readings

• The Usability Engineering Lifecycle A
  Practitioners Handbook for Use Design
• available at books 24x7.com
• http//www.umlib.um.edu.my
• An example of system analysis http//courses.cs.v
  t.edu/7Ecs3724/fall2000/notes/printablenotes/sys_
  analysis.htm

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USER ANALYSIS

• User expertise levels
• Novice or first-timer user may know
  application domain
• but does not know specifics of application
• Intermittent user uses several systems from
  time to time,
• knows application domains but does not
  remember
• details of different applications
• Frequent user uses application daily and
  knows both
• application and task domain very well

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User Analysis

• User Class Characterization
• Set of users with similar characteristics and
  needs e.g. job description, location, level of
  responsibility, computer literacy, application
  domain knowledge
• Answer following questions for each class
• What is knowledge of computer technology
• What is knowledge of application domain
• How complex is application content?
• Are users discretionary or captive?
• Frequency of usage, duty cycle
• With whom do users interact
• What are training needs
• What is user culture
• How receptive/resistant to product are users?

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Task Analysis(TA)

• What tasks will users perform with this system
  e.g. Calendar Management System.
• Task decomposiiton (subtasks)
• Task Analysis is task structure. Not timing,
  precedence, order of task performance, work flow,
  etc.
• What user can do, not must do.
• Task Analysis iterated
• What developers observe that users need, not what
  developers think that users need

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Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA)

• Example of HTA for Calendar Management System

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Usage Scenario

• Scenarios are characterizations of users and
  their tasks in a specified context. They offer
  concrete representations of a user working with a
  computer system in order to achieve a particular
  goal.
• Reading
• RESPECT 5.3 Handbook, Part C 4. User
  Requirements
• Methods
• Usage Scenarios http//courses.cs.vt.edu/7Ecs372
  4/fall2000/notes/design/design.htm