Designing the System Structure › User Task Support › Principles of User Task Support

Principles of User Task Support

During user task analysis, the application developer looks at application requirements from the standpoint of the user's objectives and working conditions, not that of the information architecture. Once the tasks have been identified and documented in detail, the client application, including its user interface, can be designed to reflect them.

User task analysis is used to answer the following questions:

• Who is the user?
• What tasks does the user perform?
• What is the relationship between the tasks?
  Can one task interrupt another?
• Is there any sequence to the tasks?
• How are interruptions, exceptions and problems handled?
• What business event triggers each task?
• What objects does the user manipulate to carry out each task?
• How can the usability of the final user interface be measured?