Representing and constructing use - an activity theoretical perpective to design work

Abstract

In this paper, the design of a medical device is analyzed as an integral part of a wider interplay between the designers and users. Special emphasis is put on studying the ways of how user- related knowledge is constructed, mediated into and utilized in the design work. I shaH elaborate on how insights derived from activity theory and science and technology studies could be utilized in connecting the dynamics of the networks of designer and user activities into an analysis of user consideration in a process of design.