User requirements and preferences for ITS Chapter | 4 57described as problems, breakdowns, clashes, or ruptures that are due to a misfit
between the various activities and their elements. According to activity theory,
contradictions are resolved continuously during the system life-cycle and are
considered a source of development. In the work of Engeström (1987) four con-
tradiction types are defined:
• Primary contradictions refer to problems of a single activity and correspond
to breakdowns in the actions of the activity. When the same action is mo-
tivated by different actors, or the same user performs different actions for
different reasons or in the context of two different activities, the resulting
polymotivation leads to primary contradictions.
• Secondary contradictions refer to problems in the relationship between ac-
tivity nodes.
• Tertiary contradictions occur during the remodeling of activities. When the
resolution of primary or secondary contradictions leads to a new, “culturally
more advanced,” activity that defines new practices (praxis), new objects
or subjects and a new division of labor, then tertiary contradictions may
happen.
• Quaternary contradictions take place when new activities replace existing
activities in order to resolve primary or secondary problems. The old activi-
ties coexisted and worked in concurrency with other activities, so the new
ones must resolve several tertiary contradictions and quaternary contradic-
tions with concurrent activities (Turner & Turner, 2001).
Based on the works of Engeström (1987); Jonassen & Rohrer-Murphy
(1999), Bødker (1996), Mwanza (2001), and Uden (2007), activity theory can
be employed for the elicitation of ITS requirements. The steps of this require-
ments elicitation process comprise:
- Define the purpose of the activity system.
The first step is to clarify the motives and goals of the activity system. That
is to understand the context and motivations for the activity being modeled
and any interpretations of perceived contradictions. Context is the activity sys-
tem and the activity system is connected to other activity systems. To analyze
context, we need to know the beliefs, assumptions, models, and methods com-
monly held by the group members, how individuals refer to their experiences in
other groups, what tools they found helpful in completing their problem, etc. In
addition, there are also external or community-driven contexts. It also assumes
knowledge of the external (i.e., community) context, which includes (Jonassen
& Rohrer-Murphy, 1999):
• Users involvved in the activities.
• Outcomes of the user’s activity.
• Motive of the users.
• The limitations imposed by the environment.