Re: Whatever happened to reuse?

From: Shayne Wissler (thalesNOSPAM000_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 05/14/04 

Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 14:33:21 GMT

"Cristiano Sadun" <cristianoTAKEsadunTHIS@OUThotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94E97524DE64FSadun@212.45.188.38...
> "Shayne Wissler" <thalesNOSPAM000@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:tV8oc.26999$z06.4469774@attbi_s01:
>
> > This kind of mindset will yeild an unsolvable problem. You can't
> > design tools primarily by watching what other people do with them.
> > What if they do something stupid with them? What if different users
> > use the tools in contradictory ways?
>
> You're supposed to find and watch the right users.

This doesn't solve anything. It just pushes the problem back one step and
creates new problems. How do you know which users are "right" and which are
"wrong"? What if none of the users you can find are perfect on this count?

> Watching me using a
> screwdriver to hammer nails isnt probably going to be very useful to a
> screwdriver designer; but watching a skilled carpenter and listening to
> his wishes ("it would be nice if I hadn't to keep the screws in the right
> position by hand"; "it would be nice if I hadn't to depend only on my
> wrist strength"; etc) is the only thing that can let him designer a
> seriously improved screwdriver - something that's gonna be useful.

Actually, watching the skilled and the unskilled, and trying to use the
thing yourself, are all going to help--if you're the right person for the
job.

> > The right method is to have the wisest, most skilled people in the
> > organization design these reusable tools.
>
> Skilled in what? Skill in *using* a screwdriver is quite another issue
> than skill in *building* a screwdriver.

Screwdrivers are not frameworks. Someone who designs a reuse system had damn
well better know how to use it.

> The most skilled builders should listen to the most skilled users, seems
> to me.

You're taking your screwdriver/carpenter analogy too far and it's "screwing"
up your thinking.

> > They will avoid the two-fold
> > hazzard in creating reusable software: 1) Creating bad abstractions
> > from their own guesses and failure to look carefully at the end-user
> > needs;
>
> Exactly. Now, isnt that in contradiction with "You can't design tools
> primarily by watching what other people do with them"?'

Clearly it's not in contradiction. How about you pay attention to every
single word in that sentence instead of ignoring the ones that don't sink
in?

Shayne Wissler

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