Monday, December 31, 2007

There's More to Software Design

There's more to software design than just the "mechanical" aspects.

This article by Mark Hamburg about Lightroom's Goals should give you an idea of what I'm talking about. (And I think they've been fairly successful with this in Lightroom.)

I struggle with this with my company's vertical application, partly because it's hard to get people to see that issues like style, grace, and elegance are relevant to a business application. I think they are. I don't mean it has to be "pretty" or "artsy". But it should look good, flow well, be smooth not awkward. Part of this is definitely the mechanical aspects but part of it is more subtle things. I'm reminded of "quality" in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

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