CS 588 - Spring 1997 

Task Analysis Assignment
due February 6 at the beginning of class

IMPORTANT: hand in TWO copies of your assignment - we will keep one
and give one back to you.

A. (10 points, 1 page)

Would an observational study [Newman, section 5.3] help you in coming
up with an initial design for the class project? If yes, what would
you do?  If not, why not?

B. (30 points, 2 page summary, unlimited appendices)

Study a reasonable number of potential users of the system (friends,
colleagues, members of a different CS588 group, etc.), using your
choice of either an Interview [section 5.2] or a Questionnaire
[section 5.4]. Submit (a) a summary of your approach and the results
and (b) the actual questionnaries or transscripts of the interview.

C. (10 points, 2 pages)

Define the functional requirements of the system [as in chapter 7],
including measurable usability and speed-of-operation targets (based
on the general requirements in the project description).

D. (10 points, 1 page)

Make up two scenarios of usage of your system. 

E. (10 points, 2 pages)

For each of the seven modes of transportation, define what the
*output* of the system is - what appears on the printed page that the
user takes with her on the trip.

F. (20 points, 1-2 pages)

Make up a hierachical task description in diagrammatic notation [see
Figure 2.4b, Figure 6.9] for the system. Your task tree should have maybe 20-30
leaf nodes.

G. (10 points, 1-2 pages)

Draw up a rough data flow diagram of how your system takes input from
the user and input from its databased and produces the final output
screen. [See section 6.6 - use the notation of Figure 6.12b.]