Chapter 6: Binding theory with design

Theory & Design - HCI & CSCW
Difficulty in articulating the relationship between theory & design as the goals and criteria for both differ greatly.

Social & Technical
CSCW research - marry sociological investigations of work settings with technological design and interventions. However, combining the two always seem problematic.

Communication between fieldworkers and designers may not transfer the subtlety and nuance of the setting. The information communicated may seem obvious but insignificant to designers.

Hughes et al.(1995) presents a framework that translates analytic materials of social science to specific design proposals.

Theoretical framework are sometimes too heavy for practical design, however, theory provides a basis for design activities to further understand how and why design elements work.