Designing a community-based information system using activity theory: a case study in Taman Lapangan Jaya

Effective communication and information sharing are vital for active neighbourhood participation, yet many communities still rely on informal group chats that lead to fragmented updates, lost documents, and frequent miscommunication. This study addresses this gap by applying Activity Theory (AT) to systematically identify requirements for a centralized community communication and information-sharing platform in Taman Lapangan Jaya. Using AT, the seven elements of activity were mapped to reveal key issues such as the communication bottleneck, lack of document accessibility, and unclear division of responsibilities. These findings informed the design of a web-based system featuring structured document repositories, role-based information management, and streamlined announcement functions. A rapid prototyping approach was adopted, with iterative feedback from residents and committee members. Usability evaluation indicated that the system improved information accessibility and reduced reliance on ad hoc messaging. This work contributes to requirements engineering practice by demonstrating the practical use of Activity Theory for analysing socio-technical interactions in a neighbourhood context and by offering a replicable model for designing community-based systems.