this paper, I review the history of HCI as steps toward a science of design. My touchstone is Simon's (1969) provocative book he Sciences of the Artificial. The book pre-dates HCI, and many of its specific characterizations and claims about design are no longer authoritative (see Ehn, 1988). Nevertheless, two of Simon's themes echo through the history of HCI, and still provide guidance for charting its continuing development

Abstract-Increasingly we wish to ask and research questions about the adoption of interorganizational systems and electronic commerce at the industry level but are hampered by the lack of a theory of concerted purposeful action at this large level of analysis. In this paper we give the outlines of such a theory and indicate the uses to which it can be put. Particular attention is paid to how the routine day-to-day activities of the firms and support organizations that make up an industry group can be coordinated in such a way that we can speak of an industry as engaged in purposeful activity. We contend that only through a deep understanding of the possibilities and nature of routine coordinated activity at this level can issues concerning promotion, implementation and adoption of interorganizational systems by whole industries be properly framed. I.

Evaluating distributed CSCW applications is a difficult endeavor. Frameworks and methodologies for structuring this type of evaluation have become a central concern for CSCW researchers. In this paper we describe the problems involved in evaluating remote collaborations, and we review some of the more prominent conceptual frameworks of group interaction that have driven CSCW evaluation in the past. A multifaceted evaluation framework is presented that approaches the problem from the relationships underlying joint awareness, communication, collaboration, coordination, and work coupling. Finally, recommendations for carrying out multifaceted evaluations of remote interaction are provided.

This essay compares activity theory (AT) with distributed cognition theory (DCOG), asking what each can do for CSCW. It approaches this task by proposing that theories – when viewed as conceptual tools for making sense of a domain – have four important attributes: descriptive power; rhetorical power; inferential power; and application power. It observes that AT and DCOG are not so different: both emphasize cognition; both include the social and cultural context of cognition; both share a commitment to ethnographically collected data. Starting with a description of the distributed cognition approach, it uses an example of a DCOG analysis to ground a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of AT and DCOG as an approach to issues in CSCW. Finally, the essay considers what theoretical work is being done by the attributes of the respective theories, and whether AT, DCOG, or any theory developed outside the context of group work, will work for CSCW.

It has long been accepted that requirements analysis should precede architectural design and implementation, but in software evolution and reverse engineering this concern with black-box analysis of function has necessarily been de-emphasized in favor of code-based analysis and designer-oriented interpretation. In this paper, we redress this balance by describing "functional paleontology", an approach to analyzing the evolution of user-visible features or services independent of architecture and design intent. We classify the benefits and burdens of interpersonal communication services into core and peripheral categories and investigate the telephony services available to domestic subscribers over a fifty-year period. We report that services were introduced in discrete bursts, each of which emphasized different benefits and burdens. We discuss the general patterns of functional evolution that this "fossil record" illustrates and conclude by discussing their implications for forward engineering of software products.

This paper considers the potential of using patterns of cooperative interaction to support the development of general design principles drawn from a range of work settings. It reports on the development of patterns from ethnographic studies in a number of work environments. Our particular interest is in the possibilities surrounding the use of patterns as a means of organising, presenting and representing this growing corpus of ethnographic material and in the contribution this might make to CSCW design. In this paper we focus on outlining some of our experiences and difficulties in developing patterns from ethnographic studies and present some initial ideas towards the development of a pattern language to exploit the experience gained from a decade of field studies.

Ubiquitous computing is a challenging area that allows us to further our understanding and techniques of context-aware and adaptive systems. Among the challenges is the general problem of capturing the larger context in interaction from the perspective of user modeling and humancomputer interaction (HCI). The imperative to address this issue is great considering the emergence of ubiquitous and mobile computing environments. This paper provides an account of our addressing the specific problem of supporting functionality as well as the experience design issues related to museum visits through user modeling in combination with an audio augmented reality and tangible user interface system. This paper details our deployment and evaluation of ec(h)o – an augmented audio reality system for museums. We explore the possibility of supporting a contextaware adaptive system by linking environment, interaction object and users at an abstract semantic level instead of at the content level. From the user modeling perspective ec(h)o is a knowledgebased recommender system. In this paper we present our findings from user testing and how our approach works well with an audio and tangible user interface within a ubiquitous computing system. We conclude by showing where further research is needed.

Abstract. An activity theory model and a mediating artifacts hierarchy were employed to help identify the needs for tools for customer support engineers who documented solutions to customer problems, a knowledge authoring activity. This activity also involves customer support engineers who assist Hewlett-Packard software product users. The particular tools to be designed were knowledgeauthoring tools embedded in the customer support tracking application suite, SupportTracker. 1 The research analyzed the role of tensions between the elements of Engeström’s activity theory model. The research also explored the benefits of specific interpretations of Engeström’s refinement of Wartofsky’s mediating artifacts hierarchy. The hierarchy contributed to the identification of desired characteristics of mediating artifacts, particularly tools. The findings included an interpretation of the “where-to ” artifact concept as supporting an understanding of the entire activity system as an evolving entity. Specific interventions were used to achieve a positive impact on the evolution of the activity system. Key words: activity theory, communities of practice, customer support organization, field study, intervention, knowledge authoring and maintenance, mediating means, requirements engineering, software design 1.

The state of the art in information technology and educational technologies is evolving constantly. Courses taught are subject to constant change from organisational and subject-specific reasons. Evolution and change affect educators and developers of computer-based teaching and learning environments alike— both often being unprepared to respond effectively. Educational systems are often designed and developed without change and evolution in mind. We will present our approach to the design and maintenance of these systems in rapidly evolving environments and illustrate the consequences of evolution and change for these systems and for the educators and developers responsible for their implementation and deployment. We discuss various factors of change, illustrated by a Web-based virtual course, with the objective of raising an awareness of this issue of evolution and change in computer-supported teaching and learning environments. This discussion leads towards the establishment of a development and management framework for teaching and learning systems.

The objective of the research presented in this article is to find representational mechanisms for relating and integrating the collaborative learning elements present in real practical environments, create an integrated ontology that considers and relates these elements, and make use of it to define new collaborative learning scenarios. It is therefore necessary to identify the key ideas underlying the notion of ontology that will be essential in subsequent application development: a list of the basic elements that give rise to a common vocabulary for collaborative learning, and the relationship and dependencies between them. The Activity Theory is used as a theoretical framework for organising the elements in the ontology. This ontology gives rise to the structured elements that form the concpetual structure for the definition and construction of CSCL environments, and the analysis and assessment of group collaboration.