visions of johanna

The Story of Software (part-1/2)

The Software Story1 is a conversation2 about software design methodology for Project development. This episode lead me to understand that the different methods of software design methodology have been theorized3; and, lead me to think that these methods are capable of being applied to projects other than software, especially in creative disciplines (i.e., my discipline, architecture).

Matthew Bischoff’s reference to User Story and Agile Methodology4 give concrete examples of bracketing (or framing) complex processes into “small-scale and easy-to-use” ideas that are “formulated in the everyday language” and lead to “understand(ing) what the software (the complex process) should accomplish”.5 User story methodology outlines a process for software design according to (or informed by) story sequences. Also, the practical and critical significance of software, its meaning, can be deconstructed from the usage patterns (or stories) that it enables. Thus, stories are the bridge between design and meaning.

Sidebar : Out of personal and professional necessity, I am in the process of actively simplifying/refining/changing my creative workflow for concerning my ideas and their representation.

I’m going to try adapting the User Story method as part of the creative process for a project I’m working on. What interests me is its use as a heuristic device for refining and clarifying a Project’s multitude of complex aspirations into intelligible, workable things: interfaces, processes, commands, outputs… But, a Project (with a capital “P”), whether it’s software, a building, a song or a gadget, is not just the sum of its parts. While perhaps framed by these stories, a Project is only discernible through its essence, whose perception can be expressed through the ineffable qualities that it elicits: –its meaning, an atmosphere, a sensation or emotion, or even that which can be accomplished by using this tool-thing…

link to> Part 2/2, the Atoms of Mann

Epilogue

After listening to Episode 76 of Enough, I bought two of the apps that were talked about on the show, Quotebook and Wren. Neither app was plugged by Patrick or Myke, nor were they paid sponsors of the podcast (at least I don’t think so). But the apps discussed played an important role as an expressive agent for the show’s content, resonating with its ideas, and in turn, the meaning (and value) of this software is enhanced.

I use both apps everyday. Wren is always in a separate full screen window and unobtrusively beckons me to compose well (or at least better) thought-out, meaningful 140 character messages for a popular micro-blogging platform. Quotebook easily found a place in my workflow, I have been saving citations for years. My only regret is that I would like this extensive database to be magically inscribed within the Quotebook interface. In the mean time, until I invent a workflow to populate Quotebook with my own database, I use it to capture quotes on the fly.