Jonathan Harbourne

This book can feel very dry and difficult to wade through. It has a simple premise – and when that penny drops, it can open up a whole new way of thinking about technology. The simple premise is, people think they have plans, think they follow them; but in the real world, even the most straight-forward plan of action gets modified and adapted by life as it unfolds. In reality, it’s not do much ‘plans’ that direct our action, but the ‘situation’ as it unfolds. It’s like a conversation – when two or more people are speaking, you have no way of knowing where you are going to end up. And that’s is this book’s (and Lucy’s theory) genius. How do you design technology for this? (This is theorising and designing for Alex in 1972!). After reading the book, I did an observation and analysis of a group of people using a travel app. They were trying to book a holiday. The apps asked ‘where do you want to go’ and ‘when?’. The problem with this was, the individuals knew where they didn’t want to go, and when they didn’t want to go (and everyone’s opinions were different). Looking through the lens of Situated Action (SA), and the 3 hour discussion that ensued within the group, it was evident that the computer and apps did not help them solve their travel problem. They could only use the app after their actual problem was solved. What could a travel app look like if it was collaborative? Apps and computers require input in and a calculation comes out. Looking at SA opens up opportunities to how technology could be – like a conversation, being collaborative, taking things step by step to explore different and contrasting possibilities.