Task Analysis:Task->Cutting a branch

1. Locate the secateurs.
2. Reach towards them.
3. Grab the secateurs.
4. Check the battery level on the battery level indicator.
5. Move towards the tree.
6. Locate the desired branch.
7. Identify the safety catch on the secateur.
8. Remove the safety catch.
9. Open the secateur carefully.
10. Place the branch carefully between the two edges of the secateur.
11. Identify the safety button on the secateur.
12. Disable safety by pressing the safety button.
13. Identify the start/stop button.
14. Press gentle on the start/stop button.
15. Keep pressing until branch is cut.
16. Close the secatuer carefully.
17. Press safety button.
18. Attach safety catch.
19. Place secatuer back in place.

Task Analysis:Definition

Task analysis is the analysis or a breakdown of exactly how a task is accomplished, such as what sub-tasks are required. This information can then be used for many purposes, such as improving the design of tools or procedures that aid in performing the task. These tools can be either physical implements or software.

Job task analysis is the cornerstone of Competency Testing. Conducting an effective job analysis requires understanding what information is necessary for the project, how to best extract that information from the organization, and how to best analyze the data received in order to provide the clearest picture of the job under study. In test development, the job analysis study should result in the identification of the essential tasks and duties, knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the job. For training design, frequency and consequence of error are two important factors to consider in identifying critical tasks or duties upon which to train. The specific criteria used should be based on the goal of the study.

Task analysis is a systematic breakdown of a task into its elements, specifically including a detailed task description of both manual and mental activities, task and element durations, task frequency, task allocation, task complexity, environmental conditions, necessary clothing and equipment, and any other unique factors involved in or required for one or more humans to perform a given task.

Wikipedia

Initial Requirements

Flexibility:

The automatic secateurs should be easy to be use by the elderly in the sense that it must be lightweight, compact, portable and easy to manipulate when performing a pruning task. This is because the elderly usually lack of strength, coordination and mobility.

Initial Requirements

Health and safety:

The automatic secateurs can be proved to be very dangerous if the appropriate measures are not provided to fulfil safety issues.
The design should take under consideration all kind of possible hazards from the tool as well as the fact that the elderly are very clampsy using tools and technology.

Performance:

The automatic secateurs must be powerful enough to be able to fulfil the requirement of gardening.
Furthermore the battery should be strong enough to endure multiple tasks without any problems.

Initial Requirements

This section provides a list of the non-functional requirements of the selected product.

Usability:

The elderly should find the automatic secateurs simple and easy to use.
The steps to complete the targeted outcome should require the minimum amount of steps.

Durable:

The product must be durable to the weather condition in which it might be used under.
The tool should be waterproof since it will have to be used in moist conditions or to withstand water taking into account the fact that the elderly the secateurs outside in the garden.
Furthermore the lifetime of the tool is of grave importance. It must withstand difficulties of time damage.

Creative Design Prototype: Gavin's Design

The style of this device is not radically different from traditional secateurs, this has several distinct advantages which I will outline shortly.

Distinguishing Features

1. Long handle for extended reach.
2. Long handle enhances leverage, making cutting easier.
3. Lightweight fibre glass or strong plastics for light weight

Advantages

• Does not require any instructions or training to use
• lower cost
• Easy to use
• Safer
• Does not require batteries or recharging.
• Light weight
• Fewer moving parts, therefore less to go wrong.

Disadvantages

• The longer handle may accentuate poor hand-eye coordination.

Creative Design Prototype: Eliana

This is the idea proposed by Eliana for the design of automatic secateurs. It has a different approach than the conventional secateurs in that it uses a circular saw to cut, but also a belt to assist in cutting. More specific, the belt is placed around the branch and into the belt grip, pressing it towards the circular saw. As the secateurs operate, the circular saw spins and the belt is folded inside the secateurs, using a rolling mechanism. This puts pressure to the branch, towards the saw, making the cutting proccess really easy. It takes only one hand to operate the secateurs.

Creative Design Prototype: Demetris & Polydoros Design

This is the first design available. Designed by Demetris and Polydoros. Using this design the secateurs will maintain the basic figure of the traditional secateurs. Something that we consider to be very important since the elderly find it hard to adapt to new designs and things that are completely unknown to them. A battery operated circular blade will replace the originally used blade. As this is just a first draft we will not move on to the additional features that may be needed.



Figure 1:Secateurs 1 Open



Figure 2:Secateurs 1 Closed

Creative Design Prototype

In order to proceed to the prototype we have to decide on the three different designs proposed for the automatic secatuers. Each design is completely different from the other two, and all are worth consideration in obtaining the most suitable one to create.

Market Research and Creative Design

Going through the products available to the market, gave us many ideas of how our product could be designed using features already implemented by other products, but also by adding features that could make our product's design innovative. We recognized that all commercial products have great advantages concerning the task they are designed for, but having in mind our personas we felt that something was missing. We concluded that a tool that combines features from both categories, as recognized through the market research, can serve to satisfy the needs of our personas.

More specifically, we decided that a tool that has the flexibility of a small hand pruner and the capabilities of a power tool is an innovative design idea that can evolve to a great pruning tool for the elderly.

Market Research

Having decided to design and develop automatic secateurs, we conducted a market research to see what kind of similar products where available to the buyers. The general products for pruning can be divided in two major categories, one consisting of simple hand pruners and the other consisting of pruning power tools.

Hand pruners
The general characteristics of the first category are:

• They have similar operation as common scissors
• The tool is usually operable by one hand, although for heavy tasks the tools might need to use both hands
• Usually small in size
• Made by lightweight materials
• The prices range from £5 to £200

http://www.philipmorris.uk.com/prdf.php?pid=3428
http://www.worldoffelco.co.uk/menu/301/Felco%20Secateurs.html

Pruning power tools
The general characteristics of the second category are:

• They have power assisted movable parts, such as blades and saws
• The tools usually need to use both hands
• Rather large in size
• Heavyweight tools
• Safety issues are in hand
• The prices range from £100 to £1500
  

http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/acatalog/Chainsaws.html

User Requirements Questionaire - Answers

The following are the answers to the questionaire used to gather data about preferences for gardening as taken from our personas.

-- Section 1: Demographics --

Age
John: 76-80
Harris: 60-65
Kathrin: 71-75
May: 80+

Sex
John: Male
Harris: Male
Kathrin: Female
May: Female

Type of Housing
John: House
Harris: Cottage
Kathrin: Flat
May: House

Tenure
John: Private
Harris: Private
Kathrin: Rented
May: Private

Do you have a garden?
John: Yes
Harris: Yes
Kathrin: Yes
May: Yes

If you have a garden, who maintains it?
John: Me
Harris: Me
Kathrin: Me
May: Family

How inclined would you be to help maintain your garden given the opportunity
May: Very Much so

-- Section 2: Practicality and usefulness of product --

How satisfied are you with your gardening clipping tools?
John: Neutral
Harris: Very Satisfied
Kathrin: Dissatisfied
May: Neutral

What is your greatest limitation in the garden?
John: Strength
Harris: Flexibility
Kathrin: Strength
May: Endurance


How challenging do you find cutting branches up to 1/2 inch across?
John: Moderately difficult
Harris: No problem
Kathrin: Moderately difficult
May: Moderately difficult

Can you foresee this becoming more challenging in the future?
John: Yes
Harris: Yes
Kathrin: Yes
May: Yes

-- Section 3: Cost and purchasing habits --

Who buys your gardening tools?
John: Son or Daughter
Harris: Myself
Kathrin: Spoose
May: Son or Daughter

Where do you purchase your gardening tools?
Harris: Local Store
Kathrin: Super Store

Would you consider replacing your existing gardening tools?
Harris: Most likely
Kathrin: Most likely

How much would you be prepared to spend?
Harris: Up to £50
Kathrin: Up to £50

-- Section 4: Confidence with Power tools --

Do you have any power tools in your home?
John: No
Harris: Yes
Kathrin: No
May: No

If yes, how often do you use power tools in your home or garden?
Harris: At least once per month

How comfortable would you feel about using a power tool instead of a manual tool to clip branches?
John: Very Uncomfortable
Harris: Definitely more comfortable
Kathrin: Comfortable
May: Uncomfortable Neutral

Would you feel confident recharging batteries?
John: Yes
Harris: Yes
Kathrin: Yes
May: Yes

What is your main concern with power tools?
John: Safety
Harris: Cost
Kathrin: Safety
May: Breaking them

User Requirements Questionaire

Motivation: The following questionaire is used to gather data about preferences for gardening tools in the wider elderly population. It will help to determine the needs of our personas concerning gardening tools.

-- Section 1: Demographics --

Age
60-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
80+

Sex
Male
Female

Type of Housing
House
Flat
Maisonette
Cottage

Tenure
Rented
Freehold
Council
Private
Housing Association
Other

Do you have a garden?
Yes
No

If you have a garden, who maintains it?
Me
Family
A private gardening company
Housing maintenance

How inclined would you be to help maintain your garden given the opportunity?
Very Much so
Little
Not at all


-- Section 2: Practicality and usefulness of product --

How satisfied are you with your gardening clipping tools?
Very Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied

What is your greatest limitation in the garden?
Strength
Endurance
Flexibility
Co-ordination
Cost of tools

How challenging do you find cutting branches up to 1/2 inch across?
Very challenging
Moderately difficult
No problem

Can you foresee this becoming more challenging in the future?
Yes
No
Unsure


-- Section 3: Cost and purchasing habits --

Who buys your gardening tools?
Myself
Spouse
Son or Daughter
Other

Where do you purchase your gardening tools?
Local Store
Super Store
Mail Order
Other

Would you consider replacing your existing gardening tools?
Definitely
Most likely
Probably Not
No

How much would you be prepared to spend?
Up to £10
Up to £20
Up to £50
More than £50


-- Section 4: Confidence with Power tools --

Do you have any power tools in your home?
Yes
No

If yes, how often do you use power tools in your home or garden?
1. At least once per month
2. At least once per year
3. Less than once per year
4. Never

How comfortable would you feel about using a power tool instead of a manual tool to clip branches?
1. Very Uncomfortable
2. Uncomfortable Neutral
3. Comfortable
4. Definitely more comfortable

Would you feel confident recharging batteries?
Yes
No

What is your main concern with power tools?
No concerns
Safety
Cost
Breaking them
Other _______