Understanding the tangible within is

Abstract

This paper proposes the contemporary relevance of a previously unrecognized class of IS, a tangible IS (TIS), which are comprised of tangible (visual/material) artefacts, such as magnetic tokens and physical whiteboards, used within contemporary settings such as hospitals and production settings, to support routine work by multiple actors. We propose several features of TIS and examine why attempts to computerize such systems often fail. By theorizing about how information emerges within TIS we present a novel application of the theory of affordances. We show how acts involving the articulation of tangible artefacts afford acts of communication, which in turn afford the coordination of work ..