Task Analysis — Painting a Room Scenario (It’s harder than it seems!)
This week, I was given an assignment to analyze the task of painting a room, something that sounds very simple on the surface, but really involves quite a number of steps once you break things down.
First off, let’s define what is task analysis?
Task analysis is a step-by-step process of what a user does to accomplish a task, from their perspective.[1] Sometimes this can also be referred to as ‘user scenarios’. Scenarios aren’t just about what’s happening, but where and why as well, it’s all about the context!
In this particular scenario, it’s 2015 and I’m taking on the perspective of a design student renting a San Francisco flat with other roommates, and I’m compelled to update the walls in our shared living room with a new paint job. So how do I go about accomplishing this?
Just the concept of painting was already making me anxious. When I think of paint I’m thinking of paper, canvas, nail polish, and the software program called ‘Paint’. I’ve never even painted a real wall, let alone a whole room, in my entire life!
If this were a real world situation where I could observe the user, that would be ideal, however since this is all hypothetical, I decided to interview someone who has actually painted a room before. I wanted to go into this task analysis with a better understanding of what I could realistically expect to come across if I were to even attempt to paint a room.
The following sketch is a simplified version of the tasks I’ve determined that a user would mostly likely take, in order to paint a room. I’ve also included a more detailed explanation below.
Step 1: Identify the problem. The user notices that the walls of the living room are outdated and needs a new paint job, so this is the trigger.
Step 2: Identify the audience/party involved to resolve this problem and come to a consensus regarding costs, expense allocation, general colours, etc. In this case, the user should discuss the issue with their roommates to see if there’s a general desire to update the room walls. Once this is agreed upon, they can approach the landlord to get approval. Assuming that everyone involved is in agreement, then a contract should clearly state how the expenses would be allocated, whether they’re covered by the tenants, the landlord, or a shared expense. (Perhaps this might not be a formal contract, but a written document would help clarify any disputes if they should arise later.)
Step 3: Research, research, research. This can be general research on how to paint a room, what tools will be needed, what colours would work the best in the room, what brands have the best reviews, etc. Most of the time, if the user is unfamiliar with painting a room, then it’s understandable for them to talk to friends and family who may have experience so that they can impart any advice or recommendations. Talking to an expert can also help, and doing your own online research will definitely come in handy.
Step 4: Define and agree on a set date/schedule to paint the room, as well as setting a budget, and deciding on a colour scheme. This discussion will be a more detailed breakdown of the timeline, the budget and costs between the roommates, how the bill may be divided/paid for, who has responsibility to purchase certain things, etc.
Step 5: Test paint samples and get approval between all parties. Visually testing the samples against the wall will give them a more accurate view of how a shade will appear in the room against different lighting (i.e.: daylight, light fixtures). This step can take a day or several, until everyone is comfortable with a particular shade. Do a final check with the landlord to confirm if they are satisfied with the colour.
Step 6: Prepping the room and supplies. This will involve preparing the room in advance, or on the day of, by moving furniture, covering items, taping up window and door frames, etc. Supplies should also be gathered, either borrowed from other people, or purchased. Buying/picking up the paint the day before, or the day of, is most ideal as the paint will need to be mixed and the sooner it’s used, the more fresh and accurate the colour will be.
Step 7: Painting the room — finally! This can involve priming the room first, waiting for it to dry, and then applying the paint colour, which will need to be applied twice as well. This process can take several hours, to a whole day, or more. If users are willing to buy paint with primer already, then they can skip the initial priming step, which will speed up the process, as well as potentially lower costs.
Step 8: Clean up, finalize payments and enjoy the room!
Personally, if it was up to me, I’d rather hire a professional to paint the room and save myself the headache, but that’s not the purpose of this assignment!
What I learned from doing this exercise, is that task analysis is an important step to do before any design should really be done. In conjunction with our initial research, it’ll help us to clarify a user’s problems within context. Why bother designing anything if we can’t even define the problem accurately, how can we hope to solve the right problems? We might just end up solving the wrong problem, even if we solve it really well, we’ve completely missed the mark.
Using a storyboard for task analysis can help us as designers to stay within the mindset of the user, to understand not only what tasks are performed, but the context of those tasks — the why and how of those tasks, and to empathize with the user. In future, I would use this method within the beginning stages of my design research, but definitely with post-its for more flexibility so that I can add more detailed moments and shift things around when necessary.
Sources:
[1] Larry Marine, Task Analysis: The Key UX Design Step Everyone Skips — https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2336547/task-analysis-the-key-ux-design-step-everyone-skips
