A labour process consists of two halves: the design process that decides the process, and the use process that enacts the process. In scientific management, these halves are respectively conducted by management and labour. This process inevitably deskills the labour force, as the only people who need to understand the labour process are those in management, and their analysis leads to design that need only a commodity labour force. Traditionally, in a Taylorism, social controls were sufficient to keep labour following the process set out by management. Increasingly often these days though, Braverman, 1974 describes how management decisions become embedded in technology that is used to control labour. The machine that labour must use controls what labour does. As Kraft, 1977 argue, comptuer software is equally effective at controlling workers, even those sitting at desks rather than on the shop floor. Systems designers consequently become enrolled in management's decision making simply because management are the ones with the money, and thus end users are viewed as secondary to the decision-making process.

This isolates system designers from users. Primary communication is often only through the artifact designed Norman, 2002. The term user reflects this perception. To the designers, the workers are merely those using the artifact being designed. This narrow view limits users to simply an information system on the other side of the screen, that inputs to the system in expectation of output. However, to the users, the computer is only part of their workflow. If we were to set aside scientific management, we might see users as competent practitioners. Their work is "a rich tapestry, deeply woven with much intricacy and skill." (Greenbaum, King, 1991a; p.4). Further, this tapestry is not easily describable to the designers, but it is well known by the users.