Task 11

Did we come up with all the necessary components for analyzing and describing interactive systems?

I think that there are more than enough of the components.

– what components seem irrelevant? Why?

For me irrelevant are the components that I was unable to fit into the activity theory framework. That would be:

The 5 of them don’t actually say anything about the process, they just describe it and in my eyes it’s not necessary:

learnability

location (located)

model / modelling

quality

workmanship

And with the following 2 I don’t think it’s needed to state them, for me they are obvious:

start  – the beginning of a task/process/activity

end – the end of a task/process/activity

 

– do what degree the list of components is concurrent with the components of the activity theory framework?

I tried to divide the elements according to the activity system’s graphics and this is what i got:

Subject

project manager – a person responsible for creating an activity plan (project plan) and carrying it out

Object

actors; participants

Mediating artefacts

restrictions / limitations (time,money, budget…); tools; resource

software – technological means for achieving a goal and planning activities

methodology – a collection of tools/means for organizing a processes/activity

options – considerations and variations regarding a process/task/activity

Rules

rules – a process may be defined by a set of rules (e.g. a degree is handed after completion of a specific curriculum)

control – a process/task/activity is controlled some entity

timeframe – every task has a timeframe (the length of a task, a start time and an end time).

schedule – every task must be scheduled to occur while taking into account other tasks

time management – the process of creating a schedule in which a task may occur is called time management

evaluation criteria

Community

not defined

Division of labour

role, plan – by them the division of the labour should be defined

 

-are there components which are not covered by the activity theory framework, but the activity theory framework could benefit from?

In my opinion the following elements are not covered by the activity theory framework:

learnability

location (located)

model / modelling

quality

workmanship

start  – the beginning of a task/process/activity

end – the end of a task/process/activity

They are more like adjectives that describe the activity theory framework and probably it would be useful just to know them.

– currently we have a long list of components, which can be definitely shorten. How would you do that?

I would shorten them respectively:

Subject

project manager – a person responsible for creating an activity plan (project plan) and carrying it out

Object

participants – the “workers”

Mediating artefacts

methodology – a collection of tools/means for organizing a processes/activity

Rules

rules – a process may be defined by a set of rules (e.g. a degree is handed after completion of a specific curriculum)

Community

IMKE students and professors

Division of labour

role, plan – by them the division of the labour should be defined