In this chapter, we outline our agenda and approach for supporting the concept of "activity" from a user’s perspective in an integrated digital and physical workplace. This perspective encompasses the context in which computers are used, the multitude of work artifacts that make up and activity, and the historical trajectory of an activity over time. We describe five challenges for matching computation to activity. These are:

• Activities are multifaceted, involving a heterogeneous collection of work artifacts;
• Activities are dynamic, emphasizing the continuation and evolution of work artifacts in contrast to closure and archiving;
• Activities are collaborative, in the creation, communication, and dissemination of work artifacts;
• Activities exist at different levels of granularity, due to varying durations, complexity and ownership; and
• Activities exist across places, including physical boundaries, virtual boundaries of information security and access, and fixed and mobile settings.

We examine ubiquitous computing support for activities in the workplace from two complementary angles. In the first, we describe our experiences designing the Kimura system, an integrated desktop and interactive whiteboard environment that supports individual knowledge workers in managing and shifting among multiple work activities. Following a description of Kimura, we critique its design with respect to the five challenges. We then examine support for activities from the theoretical perspective of Activity Theory. In particular, we note how recent extensions to Activity Theory have addressed theoretical shortcomings similar to our five challenges and suggest directions for bridging the gap between everyday practice and systems support. We conclude by considering ways in which a combination of theoretical and pragmatic perspectives can provide solutions to the five challenges for future system designs.

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