Five dimensions in the communication of design intent

Industries which utilize Computer Aided Design, (CAD), are in a similar situation to the film industry, where the use of Computer Graphics, (CG), has reached such a level of reality that audiences often do not spot where CG has been used. This has resulted in a general attitude among critics of: “CG is what you expect in a film, but what we often lack is a decent plot”. Over a similar period, CAD software has become a powerful tool with proficient users, whilst the marketplace for such services now takes such facilities for granted. The ‘wow factor’ has faded. The special effects used in films has contributed to this dulling of presentation impact, which leads us to question where we stand in relation to a competitive edge, with the realization that: “CAD is what you expect from a firm, but what we often lack is clear intent.” The questioning of competitive edge draws us into some complex issues, concerning the reduction of compromise for design intent, where priorities fight for first place. There is no disputing the importance of time to market, yet the time compression technologies may no longer be providing a sufficient cutting edge. Even if new technologies facilitate even shorter lead-times we will always face the threat of a time management trap and potential loss of design quality. As a high-risk strategy for competitive advantage, contractual agreements for specified short lead-time deliveries, in some cases with penalty clauses written in, have established an expectation among the client base. Such a strategy leads us to effectively burn our bridges, in sacrificing margins for schedule 3 slippage and error compensation, leaving us nowhere to go but back. With such a lean approach to product development we have to improve our focus on the plot and its intent for design quality. The more investment we make at the front end, to enable the decision making process, the more likely we are to avoid pain at the back-end. Presently, decisions are made on a resource of available quality and quantity of data, using a perspective which is based on the experience, tacit knowledge and intuition of those involved. Whilst intuition is a good starting point or fall-back, as with tacit knowledge, it often proves difficult to substantiate. Background experience is the most valuable asset here but proves ineffectual when faced with low quality data, either through ambiguity, error or lack of substance. The improvement of quality standards require that we look closely at the production and presentation of data in the context of decision making and establish a process by which quality decisions can be made quickly and efficiently. This paper focuses on the process of communication between designers and their colleagues and clients, concerning the presentation of CAD models, from a cognitive perspective. It first establishes a context for individual differences in the management of auditory and visual information for decision making. This is followed by a discussion of five approaches to the communication of design intent and concludes with a checklist, to aid selection of an effective approach to communication

Closure: A response to Miroslav Holub

A response to Miroslav Holub's essay on "Wisdom as a metaphor" related to the professional domain of engineering which concludes that experience and action are needed to transform metaphorical expressions of wisdom into literal tenets

Organisational Memetics?: Organisational Learning as a Selection Process

Companies are not only systems created and controlled by those who manage them but also self-organising entities that evolve through learning. Whereas an organism is a creation of natural replicators, genes, an organisation can be seen as a product of an alternative replicator, the meme or mental model, acting, like a gene, to preserve itself in an Evolutionary Stable System. The result is an organisation which self organises around a set of unspoken and unwritten rules and assumptions. Biological evolution is stimulated by environmental change and reproductive isolation; the process of punctuated equilibrium. Corporate innovation shows the same pattern. Innovations in products and processes occur in groups isolated from prevailing mental norms. Successful organic strains possess a genetic capability for adaptation. Organisations which wish to foster learning can develop an equivalent, mental capability. Unlike their biological counterparts they can exert conscious choice and puncture the memetic codes that seek to keep them stable; the mental models of individuals, and the strategies, paradigms and unwritten rules at the company level

The creative potential of metaphorical writing in the literacy classroom

Creativity is difficult to define and a universal definition remains elusive. However, common words associated with creativity affirm that it concerns novelty and originality, hallmarks of many great and enduring texts. Students can also be encouraged to surface original ideas through constructing their own creative texts. This article outlines such a project that focuses on metaphorical writing with students in the primary school setting. When teachers foster creativity in the literacy classroom, they provide openended lessons, encourage variety and innovation, and allow time to play with ideas. Engaging students in writing their own metaphorical texts is one way in which students can generate novel responses and multiple interpretations as outlined in this paper. The students’ texts reveal unique voices that range from the playful to the dramatic in their creative exploration of what it means to be human. The potential of such writing for engaging students is discussed alongside the value of metaphorical writing for encouraging emotional exploration, imagination and sheer enjoyment

Information systems: a cyborg discipline?

This paper argues for a model of information systems in terms of cyborgs – a boundary-crossing mixture of the technical and the social. The argument for this model is substantiated from the personal experience of the author, presented as examples of being a cyborg researcher within a disciplinary context. Lessons for information systems are drawn

KnowledgePro windows: The order of merit?

The producers of KnowledgePro look set with their latest release of KPWIN (KnowledgePro Windows) to fulfil Richard Hale‐Shaw's prophecy that it will become ‘one of the most powerful visual development environments’ (Hale‐Shaw 1992). Comparisons are drawn in this paper between the KPWIN family of products and other authoring tools. The conclusion is that KPWIN is worthy of being included in any courseware developer's tool set. Reasons for preferring a tool from the KnowledgePro family of products for courseware development over three main competitors ‐ Authorware, Toolbook and Visual Basic ‐ are explained, and the merits of KPWIN and KPWIN++ (a version that generates C++ code) are examined

CIO's Beware: Very Large Scale Systems Projects

Very-Large Scale Systems (VLSS) play a powerful role in shaping what an organization does and can do in a practical sense. VLSS are deeply embedded in an organization's procedures, business plans, and strategies. These systems evolve over long periods of time, often not according to some rational plan, and for a limited time they provide a significant competitive advantage over other firms. In the long run, however, VLSS become strategic liabilities and must be rebuilt. Many organizations experience great difficulty rebuilding VLSS. Indeed, most organizations attempt to avoid rebuilding VLSS until the last possible moment. Often, the organization is in a state of crisis, a strategic transition. Because of the complexity and size of VLSS, existing methodologies often are not helpful. To make matters worse, the typical management incentive structure discourages rebuilding VLSS. In a typical VLSS effort, participants soon discover that they must rebuild the organization in order to take full advantage of new technologies. A major organizational engineering effort is often required. Senior management as well as systems management routinely underestimate the complexity of the task before them. Consequently, large errors are made in estimating costs and time. Drawing on research in both the private and public sector, this paper examines why VLSS fail, why are VLSS so difficult to rebuild, what are the strategy options, and how can senior management guide the rebuilding process.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Designing Lectures as a Team and Teaching in Pairs

[EN] A technique that is frequently used in modern software development is the so-called pair programming. The proven idea behind this technique is that innovative work in a highly complex environment can benefit from the synergy between two persons working together with well-defined roles. The transfer of this technique as a metaphor for teaching has repeatedly been reported as a successful teaching strategy called pair teaching. In this paper, we describe our experiences with designing and teaching a complete lecture on software development as a pair. Our contribution is the definition of patterns for role-assignments to both persons. These include patterns for the design of the lecture as well as patterns for the teaching in class itself. Our experience shows that there also exists a couple of anti-patterns namely role distributions that should be avoided. First evaluation results are promising in the sense that the reception of structure and content as well as students' satisfaction increased significantly with the introduction of pair design and pair teaching. http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Zehetmeier, D.; Böttcher, A.; Brüggemann-Klein, A. (2018). Designing Lectures as a Team and Teaching in Pairs. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 873-880. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8103OCS87388

CIO's Beware: Very Large Scale Systems Projects

Very Large Scale Systems (VLSS) play a powerful role in shaping what an organization does and can do in a practical sense. VLSS are deeply embedded in the organizational procedures, business plans, and strategies. These systems evolve over long periods of time, often not according to some rational plan, and for a limited time they provide a significant competitive advantage over other firms. In the long run, however, VLSS become strategic liabilities and must be rebuilt. Many organizations experience great difficulty rebuilding VLSS . Indeed, most organizations attempt to avoid rebuilding VLSS until the last possible moment. Often, the organization is in a state of crisis, a strategic transition. Because of the complexity and size of VLSS, existing methodologies often are not helpful. To make matters worse, the typical management incentive structure discourages rebuilding VLSS. In a typical VLSS effort, participants soon discover that they must rebuild the organization in order to take full advantage of new technologies. A major organizational engineering effort is often required. Senior management as well as systems management routinely underestimate the complexity of the task before them. Consequently, large errors are made in estimating costs and time. Drawing on research in both the private and public sector, this paper examines why VLSS fail, why are VLSS so difficult to rebuild, what are the strategy options, and how can senior management guide the rebuilding process.Information Systems Working Papers Serie