Task analysis is a method that evaluates how people actually accomplish things
with software. Through observation and interviews with users, an analyst determines
a set of goals belonging to the target user. Then, a set of tasks that support
these goals is determined. These are prioritized based on criteria such as the
importance of the goal to the organization and the frequency of task performance.
The highest priority tasks are decomposed into their individual steps. The
level of decomposition varies with the budget and type of system evaluated.
The analyst then suggests ways to make the task more efficient or suggests new
tasks which more effectively support the goals. It is important to recognize
that the analysis is done from the perspective of the end-user—not from
the point of view of managers or executives who do not necessarily use the system.
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