Task analysis

Abstract

A task analysis is the process intended to identify a user’s goal, what steps must be done in order to achieve the goal, what experiences (personal, social and cultural) users bring to the tasks and how the environment might influence the user. It is an important design tool that can be effectively used early in the design process (i.e., before the creation of device prototypes) to help inform use-related design of the user interface (UI) components. Throughout the design process, a task analysis can also be used as a fundamental framework to the development of use-related risk documentation (e.g., uFMEA or Fault Tree Analysis), human factors protocol development, and usability evaluation. It can highlight elements of the user-device interactions that could be problematic for users, which provides designers opportunities early and throughout the product development process to implement risk mitigations proactively, ultimately saving time and manufacturing costs. This chapter describes the process of developing a task analysis, provides examples and promotes its use as a fundamental requirement in the application of human factors in medical device design. It is one of the most important tools in the Human Factors Toolkit and is relevant to virtually all aspects of the design process.