Cognitive Task-Analysis of a Complex Work Domain - a Case-Study

Conducting an analysis of a work domain is a necessary prerequisite for making sound and effective human factors design recommendations. There are several properties of complex work domains which put very strong requirements on the type of analysis methods which can be meaningfully used. Traditional task analysis methods based on observable actions are no longer appropriate. In this paper, we describe a set of methods that we have adopted and have found to be useful in conducting a cognitive task analysis of a complex work domain. From our experience with this particular case study, we have found that it is necessary to adopt a variety of different methods to examine a particular work domain, and use the converging evidence from these several methods to attain a final, comprehensive understanding of that domain