On Tue, 15 Mar 2005, Adrian Midgley wrote: ... > > No matter how much they may try to be objective, the very process of > > development and refinement has created in them hidden assumptions about > > "the way things work" > > I suspect that if the people using the system are not (strongly > influential in) developing it, it does not improve their performance.
Adrian, All software impose a particular model of "the way things work" upon their users. The issues is not the existence of this model but how easy it is for "people using the system" to understand and change the model to better fit their needs. ... > Thus the system shrinks and stretches onto the users like a pair of > jeans in a bath. > > Later, it doesn't fit anyone else quite so well. Why should we expect it to fit anyone else? Medical practice is heterogenious and rapidly changing. Until we recognize customizability/extensibility as a critical feature, we will continue to lament the need to buy a different jean for each clinical setting and re-purchase a pair of new jean every few years. Best regards, Andrew --- Andrew P. Ho, M.D. OIO: Open Infrastructure for Outcomes www.TxOutcome.Org
