Activity Theory as a means for multi-scale analysis of the engineering design process:: A protocol study of design in practice. Design Studies, 38, 1-32. Abstract 3 This paper contributes to the on--going research aimed at improving our understanding of design 4 activity and design practice. Specifically the paper presents a multi--scale analysis of the activity of 5 three engineering designers over a period of one month. Design activity is widely researched at 6 various scales e.g. process or

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... ndividual cognition but rarely across scales. This paper represents 7 the first work that explicitly investigates activity across the different scales of macro, meso and 8 micro. In addition to discussing the underlying relationships between the scales of design activity, 9 the paper elucidates key implications for design research and practice by articulating a holistic 10 view of design as a complex fabric of interwoven processes. This discussion also highlights 11 important areas of future research. 12 13