Abstract

This paper shows how Task Analysis can be a powerful tool for the design of collaborative applications supported by wirelessly interconnected handhelds. We define a methodology for the design of such activities. It basically consists in performing a Task Analysis on an Interaction Model to obtain the set of all possible interactions between actors. Then a class of activities is defined by selecting a subset of tasks. These, applied to a specific topic, determine a set of specific tasks which constitute an instance of the class of activities. The specific tasks build the desired activity and define the possible face to face interactions that can happen during the activity execution. These specific tasks also allow us to define an observation guideline that assists the system validation. We show with an example how such a methodology is applied for a collaborative learning activity mediated by a teacher and wirelessly interconnected handhelds. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.