Development of a Task Information Taxonomy for Human Performance Systems

This article describes the development of a taxonomy for classifying tasks in complex systems. When designing systems that require human performance, one typically proceeds on a case-by-case basis without taxonomic models to enhance efficiency and generalizability of development efforts. Two studies assess the components of a task information taxonomy for classifying military and civilian tasks. Results indicate that: (a) the taxonomy can be applied reliably by rater panels, (b) three broad taxa summarize the taxonomy components, and (c) different task requirement profiles emerge for specifying and evaluating human performance in systems.