<aside> ⭐ Task analysis is the process of learning about ordinary users by observing them in action to understand in detail how they perform their tasks and achieve their intended goals.
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Tasks analysis helps identify the tasks that your website and applications must support and can also help you refine or re-define your site’s navigation or search by determining the appropriate content scope.
For example, when interviewing users who are interested in gardening and the designer realizes the majority of them have the problem of forgetting to water their plants every morning, the designer may include an alarm feature in the final design to address this problem.
Task analysis refers to the broad practice of learning about how users work (i.e., the tasks they perform) to achieve their goals. Task analysis emerged out of the instructional design (the design of training) and human factors and ergonomics (understanding how people use systems in order to improve safety, comfort, and productivity).
Task analysis is crucial for user experience, because a design that solves the wrong problem (i.e., doesn’t support users’ tasks) will fail, no matter how good its UI. In the realm of task analysis, a task refers to any activity that is usually observable and has a start and an endpoint. For example, if the goal is to set up a retirement fund, then the user might have to search for good deals, speak to a financial advisor, and fill in an application form — all of which are tasks.
<aside> 💡 **It’s important not to confuse goals with tasks. For instance, a user’s goal isn’t to fill in a form. Rather, a user might complete a form to register for a service they want to use (which would be the goal).
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In their book User and Task Analysis for Interface Design, JoAnn Hackos and Janice Redish note that performing a task analysis helps you understand:
Task analysis is slightly different from job analysis (what an employee does in her role across a certain period of time — such as a week, month, or year) or workflow analysis (how work gets done across multiple people). In task analysis, the focus is on one user, her goal, and how she carries out tasks in order to achieve it. Thus, even though the name “task analysis” may suggest that the analysis is of just one task, task analysis may address multiple tasks, all in service of the same goal.