Solutions - Human Factors

For over thirty years Hierarchical Task Analysis has been the most widely used, successfully applied and easiest to learn method of task analysis. Its virtues include flexibility of application, simplicity in recording task details and ease of communicating results. Now, for the first time, there is a product designed specifically to support hierarchical task analysis - TaskArchitect.

Designed by human factors professionals, TaskArchitect takes the mundane work out of task analysis. No more constantly editing diagrams, revising task numbering, checking plan details. All of these have been automated and no longer need to take up your time and energy - you can focus on the content of the analysis.

TaskArchitect makes it easy to record detailed information about each task - any information. Rather than constraining you to a pre-set list of task details to collect or method of analysis, you can define what you feel is important to the analysis. Multiple choice answers, plain text, numbers, values calculated from other task details, references to documents - all of these can be defined by you according to the problem you are solving.

TaskArchitect takes your analysis further than you could possibly go using current tools. Task diagrams are re-drawn on the fly as you alter the content and organization of the tasks. Sums can be calculated according to the values of task details in order to assess attributes such as the need for training. Tasks can be automatically highlighted on task diagrams according to the task details that you select as important - you can show which operator conducts which task or which tasks are most difficult - right on the task diagram. If you need to create custom diagrams from your analysis, export to Visio^TM will allow you to cut, colour and annotate your diagrams as needed.

Existing data can be rapidly imported into TaskArchitect. Excel^TM files saved as text can be imported along with any task details that have been recorded. If you use MindManager^TM for your initial data capture, those files can be imported as XML right away. The reports built in to TaskArchitect may provide just the information that you need. But if you want to do further analysis or export to other tools, the standard options including XML, export to Excel^TM and export as text support most tools. Custom import/export functions can be provided.

Human Factors Task Analysis Resources

• Annett, J. (2003) Hierarchical Task Analysis, In Holnagel, E. (2003), Handbook of Cognitive Task Design, Chapter 2, pp17-35. Mawhah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  
  
• Annett, J. and Stanton, N. (Eds.) (2000) Task Analysis, London, Taylor & Francis.
  
  
• Diaper, D. & Stanton, N. (Eds.) (2004) The Handbook of Task Analysis for Human-Computer Interaction, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  
  
• Kirwan, B. and Ainsworth, L.K. (Eds.) (1992) A Guide to Task Analysis, Taylor and Francis, London.
  
  
• Shepherd, A. (1998) HTA as a framework for task analysis, Ergonomics, 41(11), 1537-1552.
  
  
• Shepherd, A. (2001) Hierarchical Task Analysis, Taylor and Frances, London.