Frank Wales wrote:
How designers are saving the world from programmers, since we apparently don't know how to design things without them: http://lostgarden.com/2006/02/software-developments-evolution.html
I've seen criticism like this many time. It usually has some good points (like focusing on customer value), but is often based on some false premises (like the 'programming is production' metaphor). Nearly all critics make three fundamental mistakes. First, they ignore the fact that software is already phenomenal success despite all its inadequacies. It has become a "fabric of everyday life" (to quote Mark Weiser) without adhering to the critic's favorite solution. Second, they fail to acknowledge that software development is about balancing different constraints (e.g. economical, organizational, legal, psychological, technical) not just the single constraint that they are trying to promote. I usually tease them by pointing out that any solution to a complex problem that assumes a single cause is called a conspiracy theory. Third, they start by basically labelling everybody else involved in software development as incompetent, either to their face or behind their backs. This is not the best foundation for the cooperation that that they seek to establish. Having said that, I acknowledge that there is much that we can and should learn from others, so I try to evaluate and incorporate any criticism into my work. Most of the time, however, it ends up quite different from what the critics had anticipated, mainly because of the abovementioned balance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PPIG Discuss List (discuss@ppig.org) Discuss admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/discuss Announce admin: http://limitlessmail.net/mailman/listinfo/announce PPIG Discuss archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/
