The Art of Software Design

Author: (USA) Winograd (Winograd/T.) et al. / Han Ke et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: In this landmark work, Terry Winograd demonstrates how to apply lessons from other design fields to software creation, thereby improving the practice of software design. The goal is to create software that truly works, as such software is appropriate and effective for its users. The book consists of papers, expert opinions, and overviews of successful projects and products written by outstanding software and design professionals. These contents are organically organized to illustrate what design is and to present the common core practices shared by all design fields, showing how software builders can apply these practices to develop more user-satisfying software. The first few chapters study software from a user perspective, gathering insights from experienced software designers and developers. The later chapters shift to designers and the design process, introducing perspectives from design professionals. These chapters will illustrate the main ideas through discussions of famous applications and projects such as Mosaic, Quicken, Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines, Microsoft Bob, and others. The book is suitable for various individuals involved in conceptualizing, developing, marketing, evaluating, and using software, but it is primarily aimed at software designers, especially those driven by practical considerations yet capable of examining what works and what doesn’t—and why—at a higher level. At the same time, it offers new directions and possibilities for programmers building software and product managers bringing software to market. This is a classic work composed of papers and interviews by numerous outstanding software and design professionals. The authors explore what design is from different angles, using numerous vivid examples, to present the common core practices shared by all design fields and to show how software builders can apply these practices to create more user-satisfying software. The book does not explicitly propose methods to solve software design problems but guides readers to think from different perspectives, analyze these problems more deeply at a higher level, and draw their own conclusions. It is believed to be highly beneficial for software designers, project managers, product managers, systems analysts, and related personnel. For students, it is also an excellent book for inspiring ideas and broadening horizons.