In today’s software design, much focus hones in on users’ experience with the interface. Teams make large efforts to make that experience as pleasing as possible so as not to drive away customers. However, they don’t place as much emphasis on the conceptual nature of software – what concepts users extract from the software and what concepts the software requires for effective use. Since the advent of the GUI, today’s software conveys intellectual matter that help users take up and use products effectively. These concepts are what Daniel Jackson, an eminent MIT professor, want to focus on. In this book, he describes how working on software concepts can translate into more effective products.
With its quasi-philosophical approach, this book treads new ground on how designers should think about their software. User-experience experts are now ubiquitous in industry, but Jackson’s approach requires thought and philosophical mastery. He’ll continue to challenge future designers to think over their designs better. He forces readers to think about software to a degree unmatched in my lifelong reading.
As a limitation, the book can become pedantic at times… as might be expected from an MIT professor. He tries to keep much of the scholarly back-and-forth to hundreds of pages of endnotes, but the book reads like a textbook, not an engaging conversational piece. Because his content takes a new perspective, I don’t find this limitation anywhere near fatal, but software folks who like trendy books will find themselves disappointed. In contrast, scholars of software will find themselves excited.
This book will have lasting influence on the field of software design. Graduate school courses can easily use this book to spark discussions, and workplaces should have discussion groups to adapt its insights. Although appreciating its contents requires some degree of intellectual curiosity, anyone from frontline programmers, software architects, user-experiences experts, and philosophers of computing can benefit from this tour de force. It should continue to teach well in coming decades.
The Essence of Software: Why Concepts Matter for Great Design
By Daniel Jackson
Copyright (c) 2021
Princeton University Press
ISBN13 9780691230832
Page Count: 323
Genre: Software Design
www.amazon.com