Title: An activity theory framework for industrial design

Authors: Gaurang Desai

Addresses: Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, GPO Box 2434, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia

Abstract: Ethnography has gained wide acceptance in the industrial design profession and curriculum as a means of understanding the user. However, there is considerable confusion about the particularities of its practice accompanied by the absence of an interoperable vocabulary. The consequent interdisciplinary effort is a power play between disciplines whereby the methodological view of ethnography marginalises its theoretical and analytical components. In doing so, it restricts the potential of ethnography suggesting the need for alternative methods of informing the design process. This article suggests that activity theory, with an emphasis on human activity as the fundamental unit of study, is an appropriate methodology for the generation of user requirements. The process is illustrated through the adaptation of an ethnographic case study, for the design of classroom furniture in India.

Keywords: activity theory; design research; ethnography; furniture design; industrial design; user requirements; classroom furniture; India; design education.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2008.024197

Journal of Design Research, 2008 Vol.7 No.3, pp.304 - 316

Published online: 28 Mar 2009 *

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