[Sigia-l] UML - still not fit for the UCD?

[Listera]

"Pradyot Rai" wrote:

> The fact that Rational/IBM has to sell products for Req. Management,
> system design, Content Management and Version controls shows their vested
> interest to maintain the confusion that RUP is the "Unified Process" and
> can handle the UI design, User Experience and IA work, as well.

Excellent overview of what's wrong with UML/RUP wrt IA/ID/UX.

For a real-world test, one could easily consult a job search engine and see
what the enterprise is looking for. Here are a couple of all-too-typical job
reqs for GUI Designer/Developer:

#1
Required Skills: 3 to 5 years experience programming in C++/VC++/Java in a
Windows environment. Experience working in a team environment developing
software that is deployed in a production trading environment. Experience
with C#/Windows Forms/.NET is a plus. Experience building high-performance,
scalable, multi-threaded applications in a Windows environment is a plus.
Experience working with trading desks prototyping and developing trading
system front-ends is a plus. Working knowledge of UML diagrams and knowledge
of UML and Rational products is also a plus.

#2
Senior J2EE developer needed to be responsible for the development of web
based screens for clients internal J2EE based internet application. Must
have strong experience implementing Struts 1.1 at enterprise level. Must
have a minimum of 12 -18 months experience with Struts. Experience with
Websphere, RUP methodology, and JTest are required. Experience with Crystal
Reports is preferred.
Excellent communication skills are a must.


This is *still* depressingly common in the enterprise world: essentially
programmers *designing* UIs.  UML is the band-aid that "covers" UCD.

UML/RUP was designed by engineers, for the sole benefit of engineers. Nobody
else in the app development chain can or should consume UML/RUP, except the
dev team.

As I often say here, the antidote to this madness is prototyping, decoupled
from the dev team. Everyone (from the CEO to business analysts to marketing
staff to managers to users) can consume the prototype, without having to be
extensively trained as with UML/RUP. The prototype conveys the intent of the
design team with a minimum degree of ambiguity and reestablishes the basic
priority of development: users before code.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba