Dourish, Where the Action Is, Chapter 6

This chapter largely explores the relationship between theory and design. Although some people consider theory and design to be completely different from one another, it is obvious that they can gain value from being put together. The relationship between theory and design is vague. Some consider theory to be abstract while design to be "real", while others believe that theory provides grounds for design and that design is just speculative without understanding how or why it works. Theory makes design real.

The core argument of the book from which the chapter is taken is that social and tangible computing share a common foundation in embodied interaction which is the theoretical perspective. At the heart of tangible computing is the relationship between activities and the space in which they are carried out. Tangible computing explores this three ways: through the configurability of space, through the relationship of the body to task, and through physical constraints. Social computing centrally argues that interaction with software systems needs to be seen in a broader context which has important consequences for the design of interactive technologies. Social computing introduces a new model based on alternative views of human social behavior which observes the sequential organization of interaction does not simply result from the "execution" of a formal plan in the user's head, but instead arises from a process of continual response to the circumstances within which it was being produced. Social computing also involved active participants who improve their actions.

What this means for design is that first, support for the improved sequential organization action by giving users more direct control over how activity is managed is needed and secondly, help to support the process o improvised, situated action by making the immediate circumstance of the work more visible, or in other words, guiding the user where to go.

There are six design principles:
1) Computation is a medium
2) Meaning arises on multiple levels
3) Users, not designers, create and communicate meaning
4) Users, not designers, manage coupling
5) Embodied technologies participate in the world they represent
6) Embodied interactions turns action into meaning