The shift in the practice of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Design from user-centered to context-based design marks a significant change in focus. This text argues that it is time to develop new models for HCI design that investigate the context and motivation of user behaviour.

The shift in the practice of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Design from user-centred to context-based design marks a significant change in focus. With context-based design, designers start not with a preconceived idea of what users should do, but with an understanding of what users actually do. Context-based design focuses on the situation in which the technology will be used - the activities relating to it and their social contexts. Designers must also realise that introduction of the technology itself changes the situation; in order to design workable systems, the design process must become flexible and adaptive. In Activity-Centered Design Geri Gay and Helene Hembrooke argue that it is time to develop new models for HCI design that support not only research and development but also investigations into the context and motivation of user behaviour. Gay and Hembrooke examine the ongoing interaction of computer systems use, design practice and design evaluation, using the concepts of Activity Theory and related methods as a theoretical framework. Among the topics they discuss are the reciprocal relationship between the tool and the task, how activities shape the requirements of pa