Supporting human interaction through digital technology: theory and practice

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to describe two approaches that Information System designers can adopt for understanding human interaction in a social context: Structuration theory and Contextual Design. Outlining how both perspectives can provide an effective and systematic understanding of the interaction needs of users in real-world settings and also facilitate the design goal of inspiring groupware designers to think about new technologies in innovative ways, the paper also suggests a number of ways in which these two perspectives complement each other. An example of how the methods of Contextual Design were applied in practice to understanding and designing for mobile work is discussed.

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