TASK-TECHNOLOGY FIT - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 182

Figure 9.5 Integrating the Concept of Execution Sequences into the Technology-to-

Performance Chain

Task as Underlying Problem Task as Possible Execution Sequences

Task
Characteristics

A Set of
Execution
Sequences,
Each with Its
Attractiveness
(Task
Complexity,
Difficulty?)

Feedback

Technology
Characteristics

Individual
Characteristics

Individual
Performance

Choice of
One
Execution
Sequence
(and the
Associated
Technology)

Individual
Perceptions/
Beliefs

Feedback

whether task doers will recognize and respond to those differences in their choice of execution
sequence. O'Reilly (1982) has suggested that decision makers respond more to accessibility than
to quality in their choice of information sources. Connelly and Thorn (1987) showed that decision
makers do a less than optimal job of choosing when to access costly but more accurate informa-
tion. However, Connolly and Thorn recognize that their data could be interpreted as a half-full
rather than a half-empty glass (pp. 413-414). In other words, their study shows that decision mak-
ers do respond (though imperfectly) to benefit differences in information sources.
Beyond possible implications for the quality of the output , execution sequences may also differ
in the effort required by the task doer (time, difficulty, effort) to carry out the execution sequence.
As long as the possible execution sequences are roughly equivalent (i.e., include the same types of
execution steps), the effort required for any execution sequence could be characterized by its com-
putational complexity and its difficulty, as described below.
For computational complexity, both Campbell (1988) and Wood (1986) recognized that the
computational complexity of the task as presented to the task doer is a major determinant of per-
formance. Wood presents a useful breakdown for characterizing complexity in terms of required
acts, information cues, and the relationship between acts and cues, and identifies three types of
complexity (Wood, 1986, pp. 66-73):

Component complexity : the number of distinct acts that are needed to complete the task and

the number of distinct information cues that must be processed,

Coordinative complexity : the number of precedence relationships related to the timing,

frequency, intensity, and location requirements for carrying out
the task processes and assimilating the information cues, and