A new computer system will affect the way people work; if it does not there is no point in introducing it in the first place. These effects will be deleterious if the developers do not consider the implications for both the system’s users and other people who may be affected by use of the system. All work has numerous, and sometimes competing, objectives. A single user may have the objectives “to complete a job well” and “to get home soon.” Management may have the objectives “to cut the head count in this department” and to “minimize the transaction times for customers.” We call these objectives “concerns.” Concerns are the high-level objectives that significantly constrain the way work is done. Effective systems can be designed only by taking into account the divergent concerns of stakeholders. A designer may think she is taking an “impersonal view of the problem,” but the very act of identifying the problem implies a particular viewpoint.