Course announcement: Klein Associates' "Putting Cognitive Task Analysis
to Work:  Understanding Users, Customers, and Experts"

In order to understand how people act upon the world around them, it is
necessary to understand what goes on inside their heads. Particularly
when the tasks they are doing are complex, it is not enough to simply
observe their behaviors. It is also important to find out how they think
and what they know, how they organize and structure information, and
what they seek to understand better. Cognitive Task Analysis is a family
of methods and tools for gaining access to the mental processes that
organize and give meaning to observable behavior.

Klein Associates is offering a 3-day course that provides an immersion
experience in Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA). We have used CTA in over
100 projects and have been developing and refining CTA methods for 25
years. In this course, we will share the lessons we have learned and
give you the tools to begin using CTA and its principles in your work.

This course is intended for experienced professionals who seek a richer
understanding of how users, clients, customers, or subject-matter
experts view the world and make decisions. The insights provided through
CTA can inform the design of applications ranging from training programs
to interfaces to marketing strategies. 

We will focus the course on the event-based CTA techniques that we favor
in our own work. The purpose of these techniques is to identify
cognition in context - how a decision maker draws meaning from the world
around her in order to do her job. As a participant, you will learn
through interactive discussion and hands-on experience:

-How to recognize when cognition matters;
-How to capture key elements of thinking, problem solving, decision
making, and expert judgment;
-How to capture key elements of the situation in which those cognitive
activities occur;
-The value of uncovering the interplay between cognitive activities and
context; and
-How to leverage a new understanding of your user or customer to make a
difference.

The course will be held April 20-22, 2004, in Dayton, Ohio. Space is
limited to 18 participants. The course fee is $2395. Inquire about
discounts for groups of 3 or more. The fee includes most meals, and
transportation will be provided between the hotel and Klein Associates'
facilities. 
      
To register for this course or for more information about Klein
Associates, go to www.decisionmaking.com. If you would like more
information about the course, or to register by phone or e-mail, please
contact Jennifer Shafer at (937) 873-8166 x100 or
[log in to unmask]