Project - Task Analysis and User Needs Analysis

Contributors of post: Sven, Richard and Femma

Task Analysis

At present our bicycle courier uses an A-to-Z to plan his route from the location of the package to the desired location. The only information available to the courier is the address of the location of the package (which he has to find from his present location) and the destination address. The courier has no prior knowledge of any road closures or traffic light failures. Therefore they are encountered unexpectedly and the courier has to deal with them at that time. He also has to be able to cope with most weather conditions and hazardous situations, this can become very stressful. If the courier has a tyre puncture or encounters a problem with the bicycle, then the only way to get it fixed is to ring around until he can find a local garage . By the end of the day, the courier must ensure that all the target deliveries set by the company are achieved. He must also collect signatures from everyone that has had a package delivered and maintain records of the package. He does not really want to be working overtime, however if they are not delivered within his 9-5 daily shift then he will have to, until they are.

User Needs Analysis.

In order for a bicycle courier to be able to perform their job efficiently and effectively they need to be able to do the following (In no specific order):

1) To be able to communicate with headquarters.
2) To be able to work out how to get to target location where package needs to be picked up.
3) To be able to plan a route from target location to destination.
4) To be able to carry the package whilst on the bike.
5) To be able to deal with multiple pickups and drop offs.
6) To be able to re-plan where necessary.
7) To be able to deal with very bad weather conditions.
8) To be able to cope with problems like a tyre puncture.
9) To be able to deliver x amount of packages in desired time.
10) Obtain a signature from recipient of package.
11) Maintain a record of packages.

These requirements are based upon information we have collected from the Internet. The next stage is to collect information from couriers and then to determine how we can overcome the problems that they encounter.