The big idea: A task analysis breaks a user's goal into the steps and sub-steps they actually perform, so you can see where the task goes wrong.
It starts with the user's goal, not the product's function — and that choice decides which solutions stay possible.
One real task, broken down until the critical points appear. Step through to the last two panels — that is where the marks are.
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Goal, not function: "Operate the harness" is the product's function, and it quietly rules out every solution that is not a harness.
"Get the child safely strapped in" is the user's goal, and it leaves the design open.
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Running a task analysis
State the goal in the user's words
One sentence, about what they are trying to achieve. Everything below is built from it.
List the main steps in real order
What a user actually does, watched — not what the instructions say. The difference between those two is usually the design problem.
Go deeper only where it goes wrong
You do not break every step to the same depth. Add sub-steps where users hesitate, struggle, improvise or give up.
Mark the critical points
A critical point is a step where errors happen, where the task takes far longer than it should, or where users abandon it entirely.
Turn each one into a design change
Not "make it easier" — a specific change to a specific feature, which you could then test.
Where the data comes from: A task analysis is built from observation, not from memory or imagination.
Sit with users doing the task, record each step and what went wrong, then draw it. A task analysis written at a desk describes how you think the task works.
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| What you notice | Why it is a critical point | The change it points to |
|---|---|---|
| The straps are twisted almost every time | It adds a step nobody intends, while one hand is busy | Magnetic holders that park each strap at shoulder height |
| Parents pull the strap, then pull it again | There is no feedback saying when it is tight enough | A tension indicator that shows green at the correct load |
| Users put the kettle down before opening the lid | The task needs two hands at its heaviest moment | A lid that opens with a thumb, or filling through the spout |
| Half of users skip a step and come back to it | The order the product forces does not match the real order | Let the steps be done in either order |
A task analysis that stops early
- A neat tree of five boxes and nothing else
- Every step broken to the same depth
- Steps taken from the instruction manual
- Ends with "this shows how the product is used"
One that earns the marks
- Critical points marked, with the evidence for each
- Depth added only where users struggled
- Steps taken from watching real users
- Ends with one design change per critical point
Where it meets the rest of the topic: A task analysis tells you where in the task the trouble is. A usability evaluation tells you which kind of trouble it is.
Run together, they give you a step and an objective — which is precise enough to design against.
How this is tested — breaking a task into steps and identifying the critical points for design improvement. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — multiple choice
- Identify which step of a described task is the critical point.
- Pick the correct goal statement for a task analysis.
Paper 2 — analysing a product
- Apply task analysis to a named product and mark the critical points.
- Explain the design improvement a critical point points to.
The trap: Drawing the breakdown and stopping there. The statement asks you to identify the critical points for design improvement, so a tidy tree with no critical points and no changes is the first half of an answer.
Apply task analysis to the task of a wheelchair user withdrawing cash from an outdoor cash machine, and identify two critical points with an improvement for each.
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