GTA Group Ware Task Analysis Task analysis concepts

GTA Group. Ware Task Analysis Task analysis concepts n GTA -Task analysis in design of complex systems n Methods of task knowledge collection n GTA conceptual framework n Representations and tools n Sources n

Task analysis concepts n n n Complex tasks and goals (n to 1) hierarchies, flow, multiple processes users’ unit tasks (Card, Moran & Newell) & systems’ basic tasks (Tauber) n primary tasks & secondary tasks n actions, communication acts n

GTA -Task analysis in design of complex systems n Complex systems: • multiple users who interact / collaborate • with / through technology n “Phases” in iterative design • analysis • specification • evaluation

GTA -Task analysis in design of complex systems n iterative design analysis evaluation specification implementation

GTA -Task analysis in design of complex systems n analysis Task model 1: current task world Task model 2: envisioning the future

Methods of task knowledge collection Task model 1: current task world Knowledge sources: • • domain experts / (future) users observation of expert behavior documents interaction in situation

Methods of task knowledge collection n domain experts / (future) users knowledge elicitation: e. g. Sebillotte / Graesser question method Question: explain as detailed and complete as possible how you … Answer: “… X and therefor Y” “…X because of Y” Additional questions: Why X? / How X?

Methods of task knowledge collection n Interaction in situation (people, artifacts, history) Ethnographic methods, e. g. interaction analysis (Jordan, Henderson) Identify “hot spots” video - content log - review with actors generate hypothesis - compare with alternative records - identity patterns

Methods of task knowledge collection Task model 2: envisioning the future Knowledge sources: • task model 1 (needs, inconsistencies, conflicting goals) • client (requirements, standards, law) • technology (constraints, possibilities and expectations, challenges)

GTA conceptual framework Complementary viewpoints, redundant descriptions and cross references: Agents n Work n Situation n

GTA conceptual framework n Agents • actors (individual humans, institutes and groups, machines, systems) with attributes • roles, defined with tasks and object relations • organization (structure of actors, allocation of roles, delegation and mandates)

GTA conceptual framework n Work • task / goal structure / actions (related to roles) • task descriptions (objects and situation) • hierarchical decomposition • temporal structure and triggering • protocols and (expert) strategies - situated

GTA conceptual framework n Situation • objects in object structure (type relations, semantic relations) • environment • history of situation

Representations and tools n GTA representations • • • conceptual entities structures media registrations

Representations and tools n Conceptual entities • relation to other entities • template format for different concepts – Task, Object, Role, Agent, Event

Task Template

Object Template

Role Template

Agent Template

Event Template

Representations and tools n Structures, relation between entities of a type: • • type hierarchies (“is a”) decomposition trees semantic relations (“contains”) flow (of data, of control, triggering relations)

Representations and tools n Media registrations • • • video clips sound track picture

Representations and tools n Tools: a design environment for collaborative design EUTERPE • • • editors for representation types a repository of task model elements representations as a view on the database tools for analysis and reasoning translation to HTML

Task World Ontology name(string) attribute(Name, Value)* action(Name)* Object Event Triggers Used_by Contains Is Uses Responsible name(string) description(string) Task Performed_by name(string) Subtask goal(string) Triggers start_condition(string) stop_condition(string) initial_state(string) final_state(string) duration(integer) frequency(string) type(enum) user_actions(string) system_operations(string) name(string) goal(string) Role Subrole Plays Agent name(string) skills(string) attitude(string) miscellaneous(string)

Sources n Http: //www. cs. vu. nl/~martijn/gta • • • literature on GTA EUTERPE tool examples