1. DESIGN THINKING IN TASK ANALYSIS
GOKUL ANAND KAMARAJ
© 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 1
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2. 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
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3. “Design is eating the world.”
QUESTIONS
“Design is eating the world.”
Analyzing complex tasks
Design thinking
- Someone in the near future.
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4. 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.
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5. 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?
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6. 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).
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7. 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.
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8. 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).
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9. USING DESIGN THINKING Ideate
Leave your current perceptions at the doorstep. Be creative in how you understand and convey instructions. Ideate.
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10. 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.
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11. 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.
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12. 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- 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.
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13. 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.
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14. ACTIVITY
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15. Q & A
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16. Thank you!
You can reach out to me at
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17. © 2016, STC INDIA CHAPTER 17