Mobile IxD

Task analysis means learning about the goals of your users. That is, what they want to do with your product and their ways of working. It can also mean determining the specific tasks required to meet those goals and what steps to accomplish those tasks.

Task analysis is especially important for mobile design because of the need to focus on delivering the key features and functionality in order to provide a usable, useful, enjoyable experience.

Determine the level of desired granularity for the analysis before performing it. Too much granularity may slow down the design process and become more of a burden than a tool. Too little, and the analysis may not provide enough useful information
Start by identifying the key goals people will have when using your product and then list out one or more tasks that have to be accomplished to achieve those goals
Once the tasks have been identified, break each of them down into discrete steps, such as “push the down arrow hardware key 3 times” and “push the select hardware key”
Creating a task flow diagram can be helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the tasks and can serve as a communication aid with other team members

“User and Task Analysis for Interface Design” by Hackos and Redish provides a thorough treatment of this topic. Usage-centered design by Constantine and Lockwood also integrates a focus on identifying and analyzing tasks .

dave@mobileixd.com