Group Task Analysis

1
Group Task Analysis

• Alfred Kobsa
• University of California, Irvine

2
How do users complete their tasks?(work flow)

• Users overall goals
• How they currently approach the task
• Information needed to achieve goals
• Interdependencies between steps
• Various outcomes and reports that need to be
  produced
• Criteria used to determine quality and
  acceptability of these results
• Communication needs of users as they exchange
  information with others
• Exceptions/emergencies and how to deal with them
• Users model of the task
• Problems they encounter
• What they like best / least
• What changes they would like
• Ideas for improvement

3
Pros and cons of using groups(as opposed to
individual interviews)

• Pros
• Describing procedural knowledge is difficult, but
  group situation may help
• People perform tasks differently and may have
  different views on what the process/policy is.
  Bringing them together helps build consensus
• Courage Baxter six times faster than
  individual analysis
• Cons
• People may feel intimidated
• Consensus opinion may gravitate towards company
  norms, even though those do not reflect reality

4
Downsides of Group Task Analysis(specifically in
comparison with field studies)

• Loss of context (? bring artifacts)
• Missed steps
• far less frequent than in individual analysis,
  but more than when observation takes place
• Stated versus actual behavior
• (Forgetting exceptions)

5
Elements of work flows

• Triggers
• End points
• Standard steps
• Decision points
• Sequence of steps
• Exceptions
• Steps that users dislike
• Additional information
• Actors

6
Elements of Group Task Analysis

• Tasks of interest
• Actors participants, moderator, videographer,
              observers
• Activity material
• Canvas, steps on cardboards (self-adhesive),
  tape,
• Users artifacts
• Video camera and audio recorder