A list of five measurable module outcomes spanning remembering HTA and CTA steps through applying, analyzing, and evaluating task analysis in interface design contexts, mapped to Bloom's levels and course objectives; used by instructors to align assessments and by learners to understand expected competencies.
Topics
This module covers 7 topics. Open a topic to see its subtopics.
Module Content
26 items.
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A group project assignment (Phase 3 of a semester-long sequence) in which student teams conduct a task analysis of an AI-assisted software design workflow, producing HTA diagrams and CTA findings that build on prior use-case work; used by student teams as the primary instructions for completing and submitting this phase.
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The full consolidated module text covering task analysis end-to-end, from defining what task analysis is through hierarchical and cognitive methods, data gathering, and documentation, serving as the primary reading for the module.
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A reading that introduces task analysis as a disciplined method for breaking human activity into constituent parts, defining goals, tasks, and subtasks and explaining why understanding real user behavior precedes interface design.
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A lesson on Hierarchical Task Analysis, tracing its origins with Annett and Duncan and showing how to decompose goals into subtasks, operations, and plans to produce structured task diagrams learners can replicate in their own analyses.
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A lesson on Cognitive Task Analysis that addresses the mental side HTA misses — decision-making, expert knowledge, attention, and problem solving — and the interview and probe techniques used to surface what users are thinking during a task.
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A comparative reading that contrasts HTA and CTA as complementary rather than competing methods, giving criteria for choosing the right approach based on the questions a project needs answered.
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A practical guide to gathering the empirical evidence that feeds task analysis, covering observation, interviews, and other data-collection techniques for documenting how real users actually perform tasks.
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A how-to lesson on turning raw observation and interview data into a structured, verifiable task analysis document that a project team can review, critique, and use to drive design decisions.
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A capstone reading that applies task analysis to collaborative team work, addressing how groups divide observation duties, reconcile differing findings, and produce a shared evidence-based analysis for the course group project.
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A reading that introduces task analysis as a core UX and interface design practice, explaining what it is, why it matters, and how breaking down human activity into constituent parts helps designers build systems that support real-world user behavior.
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A reading covering Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), tracing its origins in industrial and military psychology and explaining how the method decomposes complex user goals into progressively smaller sub-tasks, which learners use to understand and document observable task structures.
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A reading on Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) that addresses the mental processes underlying user actions — such as expert decision-making and knowledge application — filling the gap that HTA leaves by going beyond observable steps to capture what users think and know during task execution.
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A reading that compares HTA and CTA as complementary rather than competing methods, guiding learners and instructors in selecting the appropriate analysis technique based on project context, task complexity, and the type of information needed.
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A reading on empirical data-collection techniques used to feed task analysis, covering methods such as observation and interviews, and explaining how to gather reliable, real-world evidence about how users actually perform tasks before analysis begins.
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A reading explaining how to translate raw observational and interview data into structured, team-readable task analysis documents, covering documentation formats, verification practices, and how to produce artefacts that are ready to inform design decisions.
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A reading that guides student project teams through applying task analysis collaboratively, addressing the practical challenges of coordinating multiple observers, aligning findings, and converting team-gathered evidence into structured, evidence-based design understanding.
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A reading that guides student project teams through applying task analysis collaboratively, addressing the practical challenges of coordinating multiple observers, aligning findings, and converting team-gathered evidence into structured, evidence-based design understanding.
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A reading that introduces task analysis as the practice of decomposing user goals into the actions, decisions, and judgments that lead to them, establishing why designers should map what users do before sketching screens or layouts.
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A reading on Hierarchical Task Analysis that explains how to decompose a high-level goal into subgoals, operations, and plans, and how to represent the result as a numbered tree or indented outline for use in design work.
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A reading on Cognitive Task Analysis covering methods for surfacing the knowledge, cues, judgments, and decisions experts rely on but rarely articulate, extending beyond the observable steps captured by HTA.
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A comparative reading that weighs HTA against CTA, helping learners judge which method fits a given problem, user population, and project constraint, or when to combine both.
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A reading on gathering the raw data behind a task analysis, covering observation in real contexts, interviews, think-aloud protocols, and related techniques for recording what users do and think.
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A practical reading on writing up a task analysis deliverable, detailing the expected sections: scope and user statement, data sources, hierarchical diagrams with numbered plans, narrative task descriptions, and design implications.
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An applied topic that guides student teams in using HTA and CTA on their group design project, prompting them to identify a primary user goal, assign analysis roles, and translate findings into design decisions.
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The consolidated single-page version of the full Module 4 content, compiling all topics from foundations through project application for review or offline reading.