1. Information System Design Info-440
Autumn 2002
Session #9

2. Agenda Admin/review Conceptual modeling Break Metaphors
Continue with exercise
Break
Metaphors
Exercise
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

3. Admin Announcements Interactive design project Upcoming Anyone?
Questions?
Upcoming
Quiz #2: Nov 6th [covers weeks: 3-5]
Design Exercise #3: Nov 13th
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

4. Process: Where we are now?
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Requirements Analysis, Part I
Week 3: Requirements Analysis, Part II
Week 4: Conceptual design
Week 5: Interaction design, Part I
* Conceptual design
Use of metaphor
Week 6: Interaction design, Part II Labs: Prototyping
Site maps, flow diagrams
Participatory prototyping
Evaluation
Information design
Process, project management
The literature, personalities, and history
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

5. Last time Development cycle Conceptual modeling
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

6. Development process Define: Vision/scope Deploy: Delivery stable
Version Release
Define: Vision/scope
Needs assessment
Deploy: Delivery stable
technology
Beta software
Vision/scope document
Develop: Build the technology
Design: Invent the
technological solution
Design specifications
document
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

7. Conceptual modeling Key idea:
Uncover entities, relationships, and attributes and represent formally
A logical representation
Graphic notations are helpful because of their precision
Conceptual modeling focuses on the system (compare to task flows)
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

8. Diagram for Automatic Teller Machine (1st version)*
* Benyon, D., Green, T. & Bental, D. (1999). Conceptual modeling for user interface development. New York: Springer.
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

9. 2nd version (iterating is important)
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

10. Guidelines
Formal notations can help design team focus on details with rigor
No right answers on how much detail to include – It depends on the goals of the team
Diagrams should be broken into digestible chunks and should be augmented with written descriptions
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

11. Conceptual Modeling Exercise

12. Two problems Reverse engineer conceptual model for Dmoz
Create a conceptual model for a scenario
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

13. Exercise: Reverse engineer a conceptual model for dmoz
What are the entities?
What are the relationships?
What are the attributes?
What operations can be applied to the entities?
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

14. Exercise: Develop a conceptual model for this scenario
Jill is a historian. She wants to help people understand how natural and built environments have changed over time. To do this she wants to develop a site which will allow people to match old photographs of buildings, landscapes, etc. to new photographs. Jill wants people to see, touch, and experience ‘change’.
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

15. Break

16. Metaphors Conceptual metaphors help us reason about the world
Metaphors are fundamental part of our use of language
Example:
An argument is a building
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

17. An argument is a building
We’ve got the framework for a solid argument
If you don’t support your argument with solid facts, the whole thing will collapse
His trying to buttress his argument with a lot of irrelevant facts but it is still so shaky that it will easily fall apart under criticism
Examples from Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

18. Metaphors map concrete things to abstract things
Concrete domain: Abstract domain:
Building Argument
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

19. Metaphors in technology
For users,
Metaphors help users understand possibilities and provide an initial conceptual model
However, a metaphor may limit understanding for a system
Example
A word processor is like a typewriter
The web is like a telephone
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

20. Metaphors in technology
For designers,
Generating metaphors can lead to innovative solutions
For example,
A digital library is like X, Y, Z, …
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

21. Example: What metaphors might be applicable for this scenario
Jill is a historian. She wants to help people understand how natural and built environments have changed over time. To do this she wants to develop a site which will allow people to match old photographs of buildings, landscapes, etc. to new photographs. Jill wants people to see, touch, and experience ‘change’.
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

22. Some possibilities Matching is like ….. History is like …
Environment is like …
Change is like …
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)

23. Next time Topics Two readings Return assignment #2
Review conceptual models
Introduction
Site maps
Intro to prototyping & participatory design
Two readings
See syllabus
Return assignment #2
Copyright David Hendry (INFO-440 session /28/2002)