Understanding what people want: Using task models to improve the effectiveness of your product. Facilitated by Richard Caddick Managing Director cxpartners, United Kingdom and Chui Chui Tan Director of International Research cxpartners, United Kingdom

1. Hello!

2. 2
@richardcaddick
#taskmodel

3. A bit of
background

4. 4

5. 5
Find out the steps people go
through and the decisions
they need to make…

6. 6
…then stick to those
patterns in the design!

7. 7

8. 8

9. 9

10. 10

11. So why care?

12. 12
Increased
customer
satisfaction
Increased
$$$
More
effective
products = +

13. Warm up activity

14. 14
Your morning routine.
From the alarm going off
through to leaving the house.

15. 15

16. 16
When finished, the shaving program
included 55 steps; 55 separate
behaviors that this learner needs to
acquire, in a specific order, before we
can consider shaving “mastered.”
http://zachikkanda.com/2012/04/12/the-complexity-of-simple-tasks/

17. 17
There’s a goal
There are phases
Decisions that need to be made
There are activities
Requirements
Pain points

18. Wait a minute!

19. 19

20. 20

21. 21
Flight
Photos
If the user has a shortlist of
cities then they will repeat the
search several times for each
city.
Goal: To find the perfect romantic city break
Users maybe thrown back
into research mode if they
don't like what they see or if
another suggestion is
made. Often this can be a
suggestion by a friend or
family member.
Decision
How far
away?
Which
city?
Dates?
Idea of
price?
Specific
needs
Which
departure
airport?
Payment Confirmation
Price
Hotel
Room
Location
Specifics
Search for
hotels in city
Browse
Idea
"Let's get away!"
Initial investigations
"Where shall we go?"
Unless the couple have already decided exactly where they
are going they will look for inspiration online and offline and
through talking with friends and family.
Detailed investigations
"This looks good"
Once a search has been performed a user will evaluate
the different options available. These are linked and
each item effects the overall package they select.
Decision made
"That looks amazing!"
Decide on a place
"Let's look here"
!
The current payment options are not
clear and the pricing not transparent.
Users abandon the process even after
making the decision to book. Ensure a
full and clear payment breakdown.
Each user has specific requirements that
must be fulfilled at this stage (even though
they don't yet know where they are going)
and confirmed when booking. We heard:
"The hotel must have a pool"
"Must have spa treatments"
"Must be near an excellent restaurant"

22. 22

23. Today’s brief

24. 24
1 2 3 4
Research Analysis Task
model Design

25. 25

26. 26
1
Research: Let’s share some stories

27. 27

28. 28
Indi Young’s tips for conducting interviews
Behaviours and philosophies, not product
preferences
Open questions only
No words of your own
Follow the conversation
Not about tools
Immediate experience

29. Other ways to
research

30. 30

31. 31

32. 32

33. 33

34. 34

35. 35

36. 36

37. 37

38. Break time :-)

39. Analysis: Making sense of the research
39
2

40. 40

41. 41
There’s a goal (book the best flight, find the right
dress, complete my weekly shop)
There are phases (trigger, research, purchase…)
Decisions that need to be made (what colour?)
There are activities (check flight times with my
wife)
Requirements (general e.g. flight times, specific
e.g. must be red)
Pain points (ouch!)

42. The three
behaviours

43. 43

44. 44

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. 48

49. 49
Flight
Photos
If the user has a shortlist of
cities then they will repeat the
search several times for each
city.
Goal: To find the perfect romantic city break
Users maybe thrown back
into research mode if they
don't like what they see or if
another suggestion is
made. Often this can be a
suggestion by a friend or
family member.
Decision
How far
away?
Which
city?
Dates?
Idea of
price?
Specific
needs
Which
departure
airport?
Payment Confirmation
Price
Hotel
Room
Location
Specifics
Search for
hotels in city
Browse
Idea
"Let's get away!"
Initial investigations
"Where shall we go?"
Unless the couple have already decided exactly where they
are going they will look for inspiration online and offline and
through talking with friends and family.
Detailed investigations
"This looks good"
Once a search has been performed a user will evaluate
the different options available. These are linked and
each item effects the overall package they select.
Decision made
"That looks amazing!"
Decide on a place
"Let's look here"
!
The current payment options are not
clear and the pricing not transparent.
Users abandon the process even after
making the decision to book. Ensure a
full and clear payment breakdown.
Each user has specific requirements that
must be fulfilled at this stage (even though
they don't yet know where they are going)
and confirmed when booking. We heard:
"The hotel must have a pool"
"Must have spa treatments"
"Must be near an excellent restaurant"

50. Some examples

51. Manchester
10 January 2006
Call centre team
16, 17 January 2006
Six users
Bristol
18 January 2006
Two users
Brighton
13 December 2006
Internal stakeholders

52. 52
What they do How they do it
Decision to
go on a
cruise
Budget
Research
Enquiries
Cabins
Booking
Newspapers Online
Travel agents
Friends and family
Brochure Call centre
Users respond to
the first price they
see e.g. offer in
paper
Most already have
dates in mind

53. Cruise requirements and questions prior to
booking
§ All in package, get there and are looked
after
§ Accurate costs (excluding / including drinks,
tipping
§ Fly from Manchester (or other local airport)
§ Seven nights if not tried before
§ Range of destination requirements
§From open to suggestions to specific locations
§ Cabin details / facilities / outside window
§ Entertainment
§ Choice of restaurants
§ Kids clubs and activities
§ Is it too Butlin’s like?
§ Do you feel sea sick?
53
§ How do the trips work?
§ Informal dress
§ What to take
§ Gym
§ Relaxation / comfort
§ Interesting people
§ Laundry facilities
§ Access questions
§ Smoking / non-smoking on board
§ World cup / football
§ Internet access
§ Pool towels provided

54. 54
Customer calls call centre checking for availability having got
a price off the Internet. They had the wrong price because they didn’t include fuel
supplement costs. The call centre operator reads out the itinerary
from the brochure. The customer checks the itinerary in their
brochure which they got from the travel agent. The customer
tells the call centre they’d get an email on the same subject
Customer calls call centre checking for availability having got
a price off the Internet. They had the wrong price because they didn’t include fuel
supplement costs. The call centre operator reads out the itinerary
from the brochure. The customer checks the itinerary in their
brochure which they got from the travel agent. The customer
tells the call centre they’d get an email on the same subject

55. 55

56. 56

57. 57

58. 58

59. Booking often requires a phone call
in order to tailor travel requirements
Pre-registraion: In order to feel
ready to pay for pre-registration,
users need to know what is included
in a package.
59
Gullivers: Booking a package for a sports event
Idea Research Book
A trigger combines with a set of suitability criteria to generate
the idea that travelling to an event is possible. The idea leads to
the research phase.
The research phase begins by checking the event schedule to
start thinking about a rough itinerary for the trip. It's at this
point that match dates and locations become important and
enable consideration of non-sports activities, such as visiting
friends and family or cultural excursions.
Flexible travel arrangements are important, particularly for long
haul packages. e.g. I'd like to incorporate a cruise in Hong Kong,
or I'd like to stop over in California and Fiji.
I want to go and visit people and maybe NZ
in my own time.
“
We watched the Ryder Cup on TV. You think, I could go there
next time. “
The Queen Mary was going to be in Hong Kong. All of a sudden
I wasn't just taking the wife to 3 days of rugby, but there was
something else to do for her.
I said I'd do the Hong Kong 7s that I've been talking about for
30 years. “
The first thing I choose is the event, then the games I
want to see, then the details. “
I didn't know Hong Kong, so I wanted
someone to sort it for me. “
“
I wouldn't pay £100 at the moment -
there's not enough details about the tour
dates or the packages to do that.
“
I'd pre-registered my interest. It's
reassuring, so if some things are in short
supply I'll get first crack at it. From a
marketing POV you feel a bit special.
“
We'd both retired and wanted to do a one off trip. I was
chatting to my neighbour and we decided we'd all go together. “
You could walk to the
ground from the hotel, it
was the rugby hotel, you
got the atmosphere.
“
Group
travel/
community
Evaluate suitability Check details
“
“
Cycle of
sporting events
+
Trigger
Budget
Destination
Timing
Other
travellers
Distance
Package or self-organise?
Flexibility
Trusted
recommen-dation
Used
previously
Credibility
as sports
specialist
Price and
value
Match
schedule
Choose
matches
Match
dates and
locations
Plan non-sporting
activities
Duration
Flights
Flexibility
Accommo-dation
Inclusions
Matches
Price
Itinerary
Choose matches
& plan itinerary
Choose package
Choose operator
Book or
Pre-register
I'd like to know which airport
the flights are flying from.
I met friends and could do things
with them if I wanted rather than
be constrained by an itinerary.
“
“
They're not a specialist travel
company. They might not know that
the tickets are important.
“
I wanted to know: dates, duration, fully
escorted (or otherwise), where we'll go,
tests, accommodation, breakfast,
guaranteed match tickets, cost for a
twin/double room.
“
The Las Vegas 7s is shorter haul than Hong Kong.
It's a week long so I can take that time off. “
I really need the schedule to plan
this out.
I'd be looking to see if there were
any destinations I particularly
wanted to visit.
If I want to see my nephew in Perth,
I'd have to go out early, or perhaps
he can come to us.
“
I rang them because I wanted them to organise my flights back. But if
they couldn't do it, I would have organised my own flights. “
2 Nov 2012, Neil Schwarz & Jesmond Allen, cxpartners.co.uk
Flexibility
Guaranteed
tickets
Inclusions
Security e.g.
ATOL
Getting
from A to B
Convenience
Hand
picked
accommo-dation
Destination
knowledge
Cost and
Personal value
guide
Hassle /
responsi-bility
free
Flight
details
Accommo-dation
details
Extras and
upgrades
Final price
e.g. single
supplement

60. 60
3
Creating the task model

61. 61
Flight
Photos
If the user has a shortlist of
cities then they will repeat the
search several times for each
city.
Goal: To find the perfect romantic city break
Users maybe thrown back
into research mode if they
don't like what they see or if
another suggestion is
made. Often this can be a
suggestion by a friend or
family member.
Decision
How far
away?
Which
city?
Dates?
Idea of
price?
Specific
needs
Which
departure
airport?
Confirmation Payment
Price
Hotel
Room
Location
Specifics
Search for
hotels in city
Browse
Idea
"Let's get away!"
Initial investigations
"Where shall we go?"
Unless the couple have already decided exactly where they
are going they will look for inspiration online and offline and
through talking with friends and family.
Detailed investigations
"This looks good"
Once a search has been performed a user will evaluate
the different options available. These are linked and
each item effects the overall package they select.
Decision made
"That looks amazing!"
Decide on a place
"Let's look here"
!
The current payment options are not
clear and the pricing not transparent.
Users abandon the process even after
making the decision to book. Ensure a
full and clear payment breakdown.
Each user has specific requirements that
must be fulfilled at this stage (even though
they don't yet know where they are going)
and confirmed when booking. We heard:
"The hotel must have a pool"
"Must have spa treatments"
"Must be near an excellent restaurant"
Task model cheat sheet
The anatomy of a task model
1. Goal
The thing that people are
trying to do.
2. Phases
The broad stages that people
go through to complete a
goal.
3. Behaviours
The patterns of behaviour
people use to make a
decision. See A, B, C below.
4. Tasks
The individual elements that
a user has to know or do to
facilitate a decision.
5. Flow
Show how people move
through the process. Allow
for exploration and iteration.
6. Barriers
Identify any pain points.
The three behaviours
A. Complex evaluation
A complex evaluation recognises that people
need to move freely between often unrelated
variables until they reach a decision.
In this example it's about deciding where out of all
the options they want to get away to.
B. Controlled evaluation
In a controlled evaluation people move between
known variables in order to make a decision. The
interaction should allow people to alter each
variable and see the effect on the outcome.
Here it's about putting together the final package
and price.
C. Direct connection
In a direct connection people expect to be able to
move from one step to the next without
deviation.
In this case it's about moving seamlessly through
the payment and confirmation process.
1
2
3
4
6
5
7
7. Content requirements
The general and specific
content needs that people
have around each task.
A
B
C
www.cxpartners.co.uk @richardcaddick #taskmodel
Communicating The User Experience - www.cxpartners.co.uk/ux-resources

62. 62

63. Applying the task
model to design

64. 64

65. 65

66. 66

67. 67

68. Booking often requires a phone call
in order to tailor travel requirements
Pre-registraion: In order to feel
ready to pay for pre-registration,
users need to know what is included
in a package.
68
Gullivers: Booking a package for a sports event
Idea Research Book
A trigger combines with a set of suitability criteria to generate
the idea that travelling to an event is possible. The idea leads to
the research phase.
The research phase begins by checking the event schedule to
start thinking about a rough itinerary for the trip. It's at this
point that match dates and locations become important and
enable consideration of non-sports activities, such as visiting
friends and family or cultural excursions.
Flexible travel arrangements are important, particularly for long
haul packages. e.g. I'd like to incorporate a cruise in Hong Kong,
or I'd like to stop over in California and Fiji.
I want to go and visit people and maybe NZ
in my own time.
“
We watched the Ryder Cup on TV. You think, I could go there
next time. “
The Queen Mary was going to be in Hong Kong. All of a sudden
I wasn't just taking the wife to 3 days of rugby, but there was
something else to do for her.
I said I'd do the Hong Kong 7s that I've been talking about for
30 years. “
The first thing I choose is the event, then the games I
want to see, then the details. “
I didn't know Hong Kong, so I wanted
someone to sort it for me. “
“
I wouldn't pay £100 at the moment -
there's not enough details about the tour
dates or the packages to do that.
“
I'd pre-registered my interest. It's
reassuring, so if some things are in short
supply I'll get first crack at it. From a
marketing POV you feel a bit special.
“
We'd both retired and wanted to do a one off trip. I was
chatting to my neighbour and we decided we'd all go together. “
You could walk to the
ground from the hotel, it
was the rugby hotel, you
got the atmosphere.
“
Group
travel/
community
Evaluate suitability Check details
“
“
Cycle of
sporting events
+
Trigger
Budget
Destination
Timing
Other
travellers
Distance
Package or self-organise?
Flexibility
Trusted
recommen-dation
Used
previously
Credibility
as sports
specialist
Price and
value
Match
schedule
Choose
matches
Match
dates and
locations
Plan non-sporting
activities
Duration
Flights
Flexibility
Accommo-dation
Inclusions
Matches
Price
Itinerary
Choose matches
& plan itinerary
Choose package
Choose operator
Book or
Pre-register
I'd like to know which airport
the flights are flying from.
I met friends and could do things
with them if I wanted rather than
be constrained by an itinerary.
“
“
They're not a specialist travel
company. They might not know that
the tickets are important.
“
I wanted to know: dates, duration, fully
escorted (or otherwise), where we'll go,
tests, accommodation, breakfast,
guaranteed match tickets, cost for a
twin/double room.
“
The Las Vegas 7s is shorter haul than Hong Kong.
It's a week long so I can take that time off. “
I really need the schedule to plan
this out.
I'd be looking to see if there were
any destinations I particularly
wanted to visit.
If I want to see my nephew in Perth,
I'd have to go out early, or perhaps
he can come to us.
“
I rang them because I wanted them to organise my flights back. But if
they couldn't do it, I would have organised my own flights. “
2 Nov 2012, Neil Schwarz & Jesmond Allen, cxpartners.co.uk
Flexibility
Guaranteed
tickets
Inclusions
Security e.g.
ATOL
Getting
from A to B
Convenience
Hand
picked
accommo-dation
Destination
knowledge
Cost and
Personal value
guide
Hassle /
responsi-bility
free
Flight
details
Accommo-dation
details
Extras and
upgrades
Final price
e.g. single
supplement

69. 69
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2

70. 70

71. 71

72. 72

73. 73

74. 74

75. 75

76. 76

77. 77
4
Design your own

78. 78

79. Parting shots

80. 80
Chance of
success
Task
analysis
Time

81. 81

82. 82

83. 83

84. $$$

85. Thank you!

86. Flight
Photos
If the user has a shortlist of
cities then they will repeat the
search several times for each
city.
Goal: To find the perfect romantic city break
Users maybe thrown back
into research mode if they
don't like what they see or if
another suggestion is
made. Often this can be a
suggestion by a friend or
family member.
Decision
How far
away?
Which
city?
Dates?
Idea of
price?
Specific
needs
Which
departure
airport?
Confirmation Payment
Price
Hotel
Room
Location
Specifics
Search for
hotels in city
Browse
Idea
"Let's get away!"
Initial investigations
"Where shall we go?"
Unless the couple have already decided exactly where they
are going they will look for inspiration online and offline and
through talking with friends and family.
Detailed investigations
"This looks good"
Once a search has been performed a user will evaluate
the different options available. These are linked and
each item effects the overall package they select.
Decision made
"That looks amazing!"
Decide on a place
"Let's look here"
!
The current payment options are not
clear and the pricing not transparent.
Users abandon the process even after
making the decision to book. Ensure a
full and clear payment breakdown.
Each user has specific requirements that
must be fulfilled at this stage (even though
they don't yet know where they are going)
and confirmed when booking. We heard:
"The hotel must have a pool"
"Must have spa treatments"
"Must be near an excellent restaurant"
Task model cheat sheet
The anatomy of a task model
1. Goal
The thing that people are
trying to do.
2. Phases
The broad stages that people
go through to complete a
goal.
3. Behaviours
The patterns of behaviour
people use to make a
decision. See A, B, C below.
4. Tasks
The individual elements that
a user has to know or do to
facilitate a decision.
5. Flow
Show how people move
through the process. Allow
for exploration and iteration.
6. Barriers
Identify any pain points.
The three behaviours
A. Complex evaluation
A complex evaluation recognises that people
need to move freely between often unrelated
variables until they reach a decision.
In this example it's about deciding where out of all
the options they want to get away to.
B. Controlled evaluation
In a controlled evaluation people move between
known variables in order to make a decision. The
interaction should allow people to alter each
variable and see the effect on the outcome.
Here it's about putting together the final package
and price.
C. Direct connection
In a direct connection people expect to be able to
move from one step to the next without
deviation.
In this case it's about moving seamlessly through
the payment and confirmation process.
1
2
3
4
6
5
7
7. Content requirements
The general and specific
content needs that people
have around each task.
A
B
C
www.cxpartners.co.uk @richardcaddick #taskmodel
Communicating The User Experience - www.cxpartners.co.uk/ux-resources