DESIGN THINKING IN TASK ANALYSIS GOKUL ANAND KAMARAJ © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 1 Disclaimer: Images used in this presentation are from the public domain and belong to the respective owners. Used for educational presentation purposes only.

KEY OBJECTIVES Benefits of using design thinking Human-centered design approach to understand and document tasks Tools and processes used in design thinking Innovation using design thinking © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 2

“Design is eating the world.” QUESTIONS “Design is eating the world.” Analyzing complex tasks Design thinking - Someone in the near future. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 3

DESIGN THINKING What? Why? How? A powerful tool to tackle complex challenges. Why? Helps you do more with less. How? Human centered, radical collaboration, culture shift. How I was using design thinking techniques for task analysis even before hearing the phrase “design thinking”. Experiences in writing task instructions for hardware products. How do you apply design thinking in a rigid environment such as “hardware development”? Experiences in writing task instructions for a complex enterprise messaging system. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 4 4

TASK ANALYSIS – BACKGROUND Understanding the structure, flow, and attributes of a task We usually analyze the following: A detailed description of physical, perceptual, and cognitive activities Task duration and variability Task sequence Task complexity User skills, education, and training ……. What needs to be documented? How is design thinking powerful? Are you already employing design thinking techniques? How to find out. How to streamline an activity such as task analysis to effect continuous improvement? Why would you need design thinking? What are the tangible benefits? How do I lose out if I am not using design thinking techniques? What is with the terminology? © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 5 5

USING DESIGN THINKING Why empathize? All products are not created equal. There is no equality, let alone uniformity. How to deal with complex products and tasks? How to empathize? The feedback loop. Wear your yellow hat (Re. Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats). © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 6 6

USING DESIGN THINKING Empathize How did I first stumble upon design thinking? How I internalized design thinking techniques to fit my task analysis needs? Experiences. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 7 7

USING DESIGN THINKING Define How to define? Why define? Isn’t definition already done? Wait! I have the feature or product design documents, isn’t that all I want? Putting yourself in the user’s shoes (so to speak, and not when your product is a robotic shoe). © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 8 8

USING DESIGN THINKING Ideate Leave your current perceptions at the doorstep. Be creative in how you understand and convey instructions. Ideate. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 9 9

USING DESIGN THINKING Prototype Good if you are part of a truly agile team. Even otherwise, work alongside developers in building prototypes, focus on analysing tasks. You become the user in the team. Great if you can include a targeted user (customer) at this stage, but might not be always possible. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 10 10

USING DESIGN THINKING Test Test. Test. Test. Cannot stress this enough. Analyze test cases to iteratively elicit feedback and improve the simplicity of the task. If you cannot write minimal content, it just means that the user cannot complete the task with minimal effort, mostly. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 11 11

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH Put users first Understand what users are trying to solve Actively seek feedback Simplify the task rather than “deal with it in the documentation” Explore the use of on-screen information, tooltips, and diversified delivery methods Human-centered (unless your product is a bot that interacts with other bots, but, bots have rights too-https://www.reddit.com/r/BotRights/). Take a holistic view, don’t just focus on the task but look at the complete picture. If your product is already being used by early adopters, beta testers, see how they are using the product and your documentation. Explore how you can reduce documentation and help users innovatively by using more on-screen information and tooltips. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 12 12

INNOVATION USING DESIGN THINKING Target scenarios Minimize documentation Collaborate with stakeholders for quick feedback Devise a cohesive content strategy Improve continuously Innovation! Why two plus two doesn’t always equate to four. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 13 13

ACTIVITY © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 14

Q & A © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 15

Thank you! You can reach out to me at gokul.anandkamaraj@softwareag.com © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 16

© 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 17