ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of website usability: initially the main aspects and critical points of usability according to the cognitive approach of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) will be outlined. Then, a more contextual approach to human-computer interaction, Activity Theory, will be described. If from the Activity Theory point of view this can be considered an improvement in terms of attaining certain human goals, it can also be transformed into a significant economic return from a market stand point, thanks to the public's preference of one particular web artifact over another. The chapter focuses on three important aspects analyzed by Activity Theory which play an important role in the usability of computerized products, and in particular websites: functional organs, action-operation processes and focused attention on the object. Action-operation processes mean passing from conscious actions to automatic operations. An important aspect of actions is their mental planning, which Activity Theory defines as internal plane of actions.
