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In the instrument-mediated activity approach, it is argued that artifacts are far from being finished when the final technical specifications leave the research and design office. It is up to the user, in and through its use, to turn the artifact into an instrument. If the design process continues as the artifact is being used in real situations, then how can we conceptualize the design process? This article proposes an understanding of project management as a mutual learning process that takes place during exchanges of activity. After discussing how such activity exchanges can be extended to mutual learning among users and designers, a concrete case is presented to illustrate the approach: designing an alarm system to guard against chemical runaways in chemical plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]