[Reading] Activity Checklist

Activity checklist is really a checklist with certain questions which one can use to design a digital system or to analyse and evaluate an existing one. It conceptualises the theoretical framework of Activity Theory, which describes the structure, development and context of human activities. The Activity Checklist conceptualises Activity theory with important conceptual factors of HCI (Human-computer Interaction). Designing a computer technology needs one to understand the context in which the computer-supported activities take place. This understanding of context is being studied as Human-computer Interaction (HCI).

"The 4 principles of Activity theory are:

1. object-orientedness

2. hierarchical structure of activity

3. internalization and externalization

4. tool mediation

5. development" Keptalinin & Macaulay, 1999

Unit of analysis in an activity theory is an activity consisting of: a subject, an object or motive, artifacts, and sociocultural rules.

Object-orientedness

Every activity is directed towards an object, something that exists objectively.

Hierarchical Structure of Activity

Interaction between humans and world organised into functionally subordinated hierarchical levels: activities, actions, and operations.

Internalization and Externalization

Internal activities are the mental processes and external activities, the act of implementing these internal activies. These activities cannot be analysed separately. Internalisation is the process of transforming external activities into internal activities. And externalisation is transfroming internal activities into external activities.

Tool Mediation

Consists of technical or physical tools to manipulate objects, and psychological tools, used by humans to manipulate thiknking among people.

Development

Studying during the development phase of an object makes it easier to understand the system being developed.

Activity checklist can be used as one of the approaches while in intial stages of designing or evaluating a system, along with other techniques of studying the system being designed. It can help in identifying some of the design issues. Accordingly there are Design version and Evaluation version.

There are four ways in which the checklist can be applied, and each of these can be further introspected with the help of questions with respect to the context.

Means and ends

for example, are there conflicts between the different goals of the user?

Social and physical aspects of the environment

for example, are concepts and vocabulary of the system consistent with the concepts and vocabulary of the domain?

Learning, cognition and articulation

for example, is externally distributed knowledge easily accessible when necessary?

Development

for example, did users have enough experience with the system at the time of evaluation?

After studying this paper I figured I can start off my intial research of evaluating a digital system with help of the activity checklist. Only for the start, to continue the research with IDEO principles and many more methods of studying a digital system.

Reference:

KAPTELININ, V., NARDI, B. A. & MACAULAY, C. 1999. Methods & tools: The activity checklist: a tool for representing the “space” of context. interactions, 6, 27-39.

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