[Sigia-l] Diagraming Tools for IA [was: visio feature improve ments]

[John O'Donovan-INTERNET]

Hi Todd,

I'm going to show my application design background here, but whenever I have
used Visio for illustrating complex designs I have regretted it.

For anything beyond simple sites and applications I use a CASE tool which
links requirements, processes, data models, screens, interaction and most
elements of the design, right up to lo-fi wireframing. I find it the best
way to keep my sanity when managing complex designs and it provides nice to
have features like export / import functionality to XML, HTML (clickable
site maps), Screens (clickable), Word and graphic formats and even code
generation.

It also has workflow advantages by integrating a design and development
team, as many people can work on different elements of the design at the
same time in the same tool. Maintaining a data dictionary or glossary across
a large team without one is a nightmare.

Further advantages come in establishing traceablity - for example if you are
designing a screen that has data fields on it you can use the descriptions
that are already in the data model. If the definition of the fields change
then this is also reflected and the whole thing is traceable back to data
requirements. Requirements can be mapped to interaction diagrams that are
accessed by clicking the relevant screens to show how they work. This all
helps establish traceability to requirements can be difficult to establish
through a complex design. If you have ever asked by the end of a long
project "Who said that should be there and how important was it really?" and
nobody really has the answer to hand then you know what I mean.

Designs and requirements managed in Word and Visio are always difficult to
maintain and usually out of synch with the finished product because of the
effort needed to re-engineer Word and Visio based specifications to reflect
design changes. It's just too much effort and no one gives a damn if
timescales are tight.

The problem with this is the environment restrictions, as has been mentioned
elsewhere - does the company or department you are working in have the tool
and are they prepared to use it. The flipside of this is that the benefits
quickly become obvious and even if you are the only person using such a tool
you can still make your work interchangeable with other users due to the
import / export features.

Ultimately, as a consultant, designer, architect, whatever, I have the
necessity to use the appropriate tools for the appropriate jobs. And in
cases where I have not persuaded the client to do so I have usually
regretted it as everyone struggles to keep documentation up to date.

Other tools? I have used Visio but prefer Smartdraw, Freehand and Photoshop.
Makes me feel more creative...

Amen-hallelujah brother.

[Evangelism over. You may now continue to the next posting]

jod



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