There are many attempts to explain success and failure in information systems. Many of these refer to a purported sociotechnical gap. In this article we develop an alternative approach that does not impose such a strong dichotomy, but regards social and technical rather as dimensions along which to study workpractices. The developed theory involves not only the -social- and -technical- constructs, but also other generic ones, namely -instrumental,- -semiotic,- and -pragmatic.- We call this theory socio-instrumental pragmatism. To illustrate the theoretical concepts introduced, we use an example brought from an extensive action research study including the development of an information system in eldercare, developed through a participatory design approach.