"...real, concrete facts about what works...": integrating evaluation and design through patterns

Abstract

Recent CSCW research has focused on methods for evaluating usability, rather than the more problematic evaluation of systems in use. A possible approach to the integration of use, design and evaluation is through the representation of evaluation findings as design-oriented models. A method is described for modeling computer-supported cooperative work and its context: a design patterns language, based on the principles of activity theory. The language is the outcome of an evaluation of the evolving use of tools to support collaborative information sharing, carried out at a global NGO.