Context and consciousness : activity theory and human-computer interaction / edited by Bonnie A. Nardi.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Nardi, Bonnie A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human-computer interaction.

Computers--Psychological aspects.

Computers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 400 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©1996.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Intended for designers and researchers, Context and Consciousness brings together 13 contributions that apply activity theory to problems of human-computer interaction. Understanding how people actually use computers in their everyday lives is essential to good design and evaluation. This insight necessitates a move out of the laboratory and into the field. The research described in Context and Consciousness presents activity theory as a means of structuring and guiding field studies of human-computer interaction, from practical design to theoretical development. Activity theory is a psychological theory with a naturalistic emphasis, with roots going back to the 1920s in the Soviet Union. It provides a hierarchical framework for describing activity and a set of perspectives on practice. Activity theory has been fruitfully applied in many areas of human need, including problems of mentally and physically handicapped children, educational testing, curriculum design, and ergonomics. There is growing interest in applying activity theory to problems of human- computer interaction, and an international community of researchers is contributing to the effort. Contributors Rachel Bellamy, Susanne Bødker, Ellen Christiansen, Yrjo Engeström, Virginia Escalante, Dorothy Holland, Victor Kaptelinin, Kari Kuutti, Bonnie A. Nardi, Arne Raeithel, James Reeves, Boris Velichkovksy, Vladimir P. Zinchenko

Contents:

I. Activity theory basics. Activity theory and human-computer interaction / Bonnie A. Nardi

Activity theory as a potential framework for human-computer interaction research / Kari Kuutti

Computer-mediated activity: functional organs in social and developmental contexts / Victor Kaptelinin

Studying context: a comparison of activity theory, situated action models, and distributed cognition / Bonnie A. Nardi

Activity theory: implications for human-computer interaction / Victor Kaptelinin.

II. Activity theory in practical design. Designing educational technology: computer-mediated change / R.K.E. Ballamy

Applying activity theory to video analysis: how to make sense of video data in HCI / Susanne Bødker

Tamed by a rose: computers as tools in human activity / Ellen Christiansen

Joint attention and co-construction of tasks: new ways to foster user-designer collaboration / Arne Raeithel and Boris M. Velichkovsky

Some reflections on the application of activity theory / Bonnie A. Nardi.

III. Activity theory: theoretical development. Activity theory and the view from somewhere: team perspectives on the intellectual work of programming / Dorothy Holland and James R. Reeves

Developing activity theory: the zone of proximal development and beyond / Vladimir P. Zinchenko

Mundane tool or object of affection? The Rise and fall of the postal buddy / Yrjö Engeström and Virginia Escalante

Epilogue / Bonnie A. Nardi.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

ISBN:

0-262-28041-8

0-585-34204-0

OCLC:

47011980