Designing for information work at the computer workplace with activity theory

Abstract

Information work is characterized by multitasking between non-routine activities, self-directed planning and decision making. These characteristics make tool support highly desirable, but also difficult. System design needs to capture this dynamicity of information work processes. In this paper, we introduce the activity theory based system design method (ATSDM) for information work. The method covers context of use specification and requirement elicitation for system design. It builds on Activity Theory, and leverages concepts from Action Regulation theory, in particular the structuring of relations between activities in a heterarchy, to reflect the self-directedness and dynamicity of information work in system analysis and design. Besides the description of our method, we showcase its use at the example of a tool addressing memory failures during multitasking. An evaluation of this tool provides first evidence that our method is suitable for the design of information work support tools.