[Sigia-l] Enterprise IA

[Lord, Ralph]

Ziya wrote:
> In my prototype-centric world the Dev team should be 
> essentially constructing what's (functionally) indicated by 
> the prototype, in much the same way a general contractor 
> builds with an architect's blueprints.
> 
> This is the most efficient way but with one crucial 
> requirement: that the IA/Design team (IA, project manager, 
> business analyst, UI designer, etc) understand the 
> fundamentals of app design (at least) to the extent that they 
> won't spec/prototype something too costly, too 
> time-consuming, too hard to maintain, etc.

I couldn't agree more. I think this simple, but powerful, analogy of
dividing the labor on software projects in a manner similar to construction
of houses/buildings/etc is the right way and will become the preferred way
to structure software projects.

Many have suggested it (at least as far back as Brooks in MM-M) but it still
hasn't quite caught on.  Perhaps evolution of
processes/tools/artifacts/roles will eventually make it widespread.

In the meantime, if you're responsible for designing the behavior of a
system but don't understand the fundamentals of app design, look to a
well-qualified developer type to work with much as architects (the boards
and bricks kind) work with consulting engineers when they're not sure what
they're designing is feasible/too costly/etc.

RL