The first claim we make in the paper is that an old-fashioned information system within health care work will not successfully be replaced by a new one, unless the new is better “as a whole”, that is, better supports work practices of a range of occupational and professional workers. The second claim is that the dilemmas system designers almost always will face when designing information system for the public sector is based on a contradiction between central, high level interest and a local level work-practice perspective. If the discontinuities in the design activity can be exposed and analyzed a better match to the socio-technical system as constituted by the work practice in question will be accomplished. We underpin our arguments and relate them to a case study of municipal wound care work. Our study reveals that work practice of the municipal nurses is characterized by three distinctive features: High mobility, the need for face-to-face interaction in different locations, and a great variety of artefact usage. Finally we suggest a methodology that might help system designers to get a better understanding of what socio-technical system they are supposed to further develop.

verksamhetsteori, informationsbehandling, medicinsk informatik, sårbehandling, gränssnitt, storlek