Activity-centered design

Activity-centered design (ACD), which is an approach to interaction design, does not focus on the goals and preferences of the user, but on how users behave when performing particular tasks. Activities can be defined as actions and decisions that are done for a purpose. They can be easy and fast, or hard and time consuming. Examples range from making a sandwich to learning a language. The activity stops when the person performing it, or an outside force, ends it. A cello is a product that was designed using activity-centered design.

When working with activity-centered design, the designers use research to get insights of the users. Observations and interviews are typical approaches to learn more about the users behavior. By mapping users' activities and tasks the designer may notice missing tasks for the activity to become more easy to perform, and thus design solutions to accomplish those tasks.

References

Saffer, Dan. 2010. Designing for interaction.