  We focus on collaborative activities that engage computer graphics designers
and social scientists in systems design processes. Our conceptual symmetrical
account of technology design and theory development is elaborated as a mode of
mutual engagement occurring in an interdisciplinary trading zone, where neither
discipline is placed at the service of the other, and nor do disciplinary
boundaries dissolve. To this end, we draw on analyses of mutual engagements
between computer and social scientists stemming from the fields of
computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), human-computer interaction (HCI),
and science and technology studies (STS). We especially build on theoretical
work in STS concerning information technology (IT) in health care and extend
recent contributions from STS with respect to the modes of engagement and
trading zones between computer and social sciences. We conceive participative
digital systems design as a form of inquiry for the analysis of cooperative
work settings, particularly when social science becomes part of design
processes. We illustrate our conceptual approach using data from an
interdisciplinary project involving computer graphics designers, sociologists,
and neurosurgeons with the aim of developing patient-centered visualizations
for clinical cooperation on a hospital ward.
