Summary This thesis consists of an ethnographic investigation of five Swedish household's everyday life in their kitchens during the spring 2001 and an analysis of this context, which for certain can be apt for the development of the smart home services of today. Finally some future opportunities on how to systematise ethnography for design use also are drawn. The focus of investigation of this thesis is to find out what actual happens in some situations in ordinary kitchens. Specific interest is showed for the articulation work, while most smart appliances of today supports only goal-oriented activity, hence evolved from the ground of the home PC interaction. The ethnographical investigation is focused on three specific events in a house hold which all are assumed to take place in the families kitchen. The events are: 1) When a family plans and books an amusement activity. 2) When a family plans it's shopping. 3) When a person solves a goal oriented task, for example details about cooking a meal.