Selecting Tasks for Testing
Tasks to try should be tasks you expect real users of the final product
to perform.
You select these tasks from those that lead to the design of the
system in the first place. Selecting means not inventing new ones.
These "real" tasks may have to be modified for a test:
- The real task may take too long to be completed during a test.
- The real task may require background knowledge your test users
do not (yet) have.
You should be careful not to simplify the task and then assume the
interface will also suit the complicated real task.
- Do not select tasks based on what you think your design supports best.
During a task-centered design you should already have identified the
tasks the system will be used for, and you should not change them now.