Combining Cognitive Task Analysis and Participatory Design Methods to Elicit and Represent Task Flows

Representations of step-by-step procedures, such as task flows, are developed and used to support technology design and evaluation as well as for training purposes in complex work domains. However, task flows may not represent how people carry out work under uncertainty, time pressure, or high-risk conditions. We combined methods of cognitive task analysis and participatory design, resulting in a new approach for developing task flows. This approach accounts for both cognitive and behavioral work and explicitly represents its dynamic nature. Additional advantages of this approach include flexibility and adaptiveness to help overcome challenges of conducting research in real-world domains, including time constraints and access to subject matter experts. We demonstrate this approach in the context of developing a task flow for a submarine watch team’s use of an updated imaging system to maintain the ship’s safety by forming and maintaining a picture of the external environment. We provide a detailed description of each phase as well as a domain-neutral ready-to-use job aid.