[Sigia-l] Computer scientists and engineers thinking about user acceptance and social adoption?

[Adrian Howard]

On 22 Jul 2007, at 19:51, Listera wrote:

> Adrian Howard:
>
>> Because the whys need to be reflected in the design of the software.
>> The domain concepts should be embedded into the software at all  
>> levels.
>
> That's what God created designers for.

Unfortunately almost everybody I come across with that job title  
isn't willing to get deep enough into the coding side of it to help  
much. Both groups need to be aware of the domain issues - and these  
go all the way down.

>> Because there will be changes later on and understanding the whys can
>> help those changes be done well, and help folk understand the point
>> where they have to go find an expert.
>
> Constantly adopted, iterative and ongoing design prototypes do that.

Not anywhere near as well as developers and designers working  
together - preferably with both groups having at least a general  
knowledge of the others area. That's been my experience anyway.

>> Because the developers feel more engaged with a product they  
>> understand.
>
> Sure, but merely understanding a product is not sufficient to be  
> engaged in
> it, after all you may understand it but not agree with its design  
> approach,
> architecture, upgrade path, etc.

May not be sufficient. Certainly necessary though. Maybe some of  
those disagreements are actually things that need to be thought  
about? Maybe some of those disagreements would disappear if more folk  
knew more about the design process the whys behind various design  
decisions.

Adrian