Introduction

I am concerned with design, particularly with the issue of how to design systems that mesh gracefully with the practices and activities of particular workplaces. This concern gives rise to a number of questions: how do designers come to understand a new workplace? How do they get a sense of the sorts of activities that occur within it, and with which their design must coexist? How do designers avoid or minimise disruptions caused by the inevitable changes a new system will introduce? How do they figure out how to design things that are useful, and not just usable?

Workplace research is a vital part of any answer to these questions. However, from my vantage point as a practitioner of design, it seems very unlikely that a thorough research phase will become a standard part of design practice. Systems design and implementation typically takes place under considerable limitations of time and resources; it seems unlikely that this will change. To me, this suggests a clear conclusion: we need ways of allowing the results of workplace studies to be reused in new and different situations.

But in what form should the results of workplace studies be presented? This is a difficult problem because most designers are not versed in the disciplines and assumptions that underlie workplace research; workplace studies are not accessible to those who need them the most. The problem is compounded by the fact that those involved in systems design lack any core discipline.