Activity Checklist

Activity theory is in effect a way in which you, as a product manager, can build a checklist by which you can analyse and break down complex issues and problems into different sections. It is important in that it mixes what actions are computer controlled and which actions are driven by human interaction.

"The five basic principles of Activity Theory:

1. Object-orientedness
2. Hierarchical structure of human activity
3. Internalisation and externalisation
4. Mediation
5. Development"

We can break down these activities to analyse an existing system, or indeed to start to design a new system.

It makes me think of a book I was given as a gift when I was first promoted to the role of product manager. That book is called "The checklist manifesto". The book breaks down how the most complex activities can be made more easily repeatable and safer by making people who are involved follow a checklist. It shows examples how mortality rates around medical procedures fell dramatically when staff were made follow a checklist, even around simple things like ensuring the correct person was being operated on, the correct procedures being performed and so on. I had occasion to see this in action this summer, as I broke both my arms. When I went into the first surgery, they had down that my left wrist was to have pins and plates inserted into it [this was wrong, my right wrist was the broken one!!!]. This was only caught in pre-operation checks, as I was about to be put under an anesthetic. You can draw a correct parallel with an IT system. You begin with simple questions like "what problem are we trying to solve" and you then ask the questions which logically follow on from that. You can easily make this into a checklist or set questions, and thus follow it for all changes.