I design stuff. [citationic]
I’ve designed software, programming languages, models, systems, curricula, books, administrative processes, web sites, lighting fixtures, and even a bathroom. One of the web sites and the bathroom were recognized with design awards.
An essential question in design is “what if?” What if we relaxed the assumption that a useful program must be provably correct? What if we focused on the way components interact instead of the code in those components? What if we looked at a realtime problem from the point of view of control theory? What if we didn’t force our evaluation functions into a single dimension, like dollars? What if we admitted that software specifications are almost never complete? What if we were not committed to the assignment axiom? And what if you admitted that the only thing your bathtub is good for is being tripped over on the way to the shower?
Most important, What if we recognized implicit assumptions that are boxing us in and looked for alternatives? What if we challenged the conventional wisdom? How can we do design instead of default?
Asking the right question is almost as important as getting the right answer. Good questions often arise from the dissonance between conventional wisdom and actual practice.
Over the years I’ve written about many of these dissonances, proposing new ways to look at old problems.. The essays appeared as position papers, surveys, keynote positions, [[etc]] Here I collect some of these [[fragments/elements/tidbits]] in one place, the better to illustrate the idea that it’s worth questioning our assumptions from time to time. I toss in a handful of incidental writings that people have kept alive in the hive mind, just for variety. Oh yes, the bathroom is here too.
I discussed the ways these differences – opportunities – manifest themselves in a talk on the occasion of receiving the Stevens Award. It sets the tone for the collection, so let’s start there
[[criteria for inclusion, for example highly or at least nonzero citations (so someone was affected, maybe move to design of book)]]
Mary Shaw