task analysis
- Who is going to use the system?
- We are serving two basic populations. Both populations suffer from anxiety and are aware of how it negatively impacts their lives. One population is in therapy, and the other is not.
- What tasks do they now perform?
- Both populations have individual rituals that they perform to calm themselves, with mixed results. The population that is seeing a therapist also meets, usually weekly, with a therapist, and individual therapy varies.
- What tasks are desired?
- Both populations desire a way to track increases in stress or anxiety so that they can address it earlier and are less overwhelmed. They also wish to keep track of other pertinent health- related data—such as amount of sleep obtained every night—in order to better understand how anxiety affects their health.
- How are the tasks learned?
- The tasks that the program offers—logging and visualization, guided questions, and downloadable modules suggested by therapists—are designed to complement tasks that a therapist might use with their clients. If an individual is seeing a therapist, logging information and answering guided questions naturally complements the work that a patient does in therapy. If an individual is not in therapy and the tasks seem more confusing, the built-in help system will explain for what purpose the program solicits certain information. Because the tasks are designed to facilitate awareness, the process will be as transparent as possible.
- Where are the tasks performed?
- Because the software runs on a mobile device, the tasks can be performed wherever and whenever the individual wishes to do so. ?e individual may or may not be under stress, which might make performing the task in public less appealing. Because of the potentially confidential nature of the tasks, they are also more likely to be completed in a private setting.