Methodology guide to task analysis with the goal of extracting relevant characteristics for human‐computer interfaces

This article presents the precepts of a methodology for extracting characteristics relevant for human‐computer interface design. This methodology takes into account the compatibility of computer interfaces with human operators’ tasks. The article uses examples to illustrate the logical progression of the proposed approach. Methods for gathering data about human operators’ tasks (interview, trace analysis, experimental simulation) and a task description according to the méthode analytique de description or analytic description method (MAD) formalism are outlined. The interface specification is described using an example to show how some important characteristics for human‐computer interfaces may be extracted from the task description. Such characteristics need to be considered in order for the interface to satisfy the ergonomie criteria.