Re: End User Task Analysis ???

[JIMCHEVAL <JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

In a message dated 98-01-26 16:03:00 EST, tonymar -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM writes:

<< How is an end user task analysis done?  Can anyone recommend a formal
 methodology?  >>
I used Jean-Dominique Warnier's techniques in France, but I doubt they're used
here.  I've looked at diagramming techniques such as Yourden's but honestly
can't remember if they accompany an underlying methodology.

Basically:
-Get an overview of the purpose of the project from your management contact
-Find out what departments/clients this department interfaces with
-Interview the end users and ask what they do, what documents they produce and
use (i.e., input and output), who they interface with
-Get samples of all input/output
-Diagram the overall processes (ex. check comes in, person A registers it in
ledger I, gives it to person B, who inputs data in to system, forwards check
for archiving to person C, etc.)
-Depending on your purpose, either break each task into comprehesible steps
(if you're producing procedures) and identify where to get the needed
documents and/or identify all the data elements (if you're producing a data
model) used in the various steps (plus where they come from, when they're
calculated, where they'll go)

That's a REAL sketchy overview.  There are whole books on this stuff.

One BIG warning - never take a manager's assurance that "you don't have to
talk to my people - I know what they do."  Always talk to the ground troops.

<<Are there any preferred tool?  >>
Tools are mainly human: listening closely and being persistent. For data
modeling, some people love Exelerator and similar tools.

Jim Chevallier
Los Angeles
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