Re: "Productizing" UX in an organization

Deb writes...

> I'm working on making the case that the user experience for our  
> software
> products be segmented out as it's own "product".  My intention is to
> separate the presentation layer thinking from the product thinking,  
> just as
> we try to uncouple presentation layer development from back end  
> development.

This is a doable concept, but my experience is that its culturally difficult
to pull off.  What you're talking about used to be called a layered API or a
virtual API.  It was promoted back in the 1990 as a means of developing
cross platform applications so users of different GUI styles could all use
the same application code.  (Many years ago, I saw a demo from a local
company that had developed a virtual API software development environment.
The user interface was separate enough that you could specify the specific
look and feel - Mac, Motif, Openlook, or Windows -  at run time as a
variable.  

Though the intent back in the 1990s was to make cross platform application
development possible, the value from an interface design standpoint is
clear.  Separation of the UI logic from other elements of the system can
provide independent design, implementation, and modification of the UI
provided the layer between the UI and the rest of the application is
properly defined and maintained.  That's the real hard part of all this.  In
the Ada and object oriented programming languages the concept was to
encapsulate "volatile" code (stuff that changes the most during the project)
so it could be develop independent of other system elements.  And I know of
nothing more volatile in a design than the UI.

The DOD adopted the concept in the Technical Architecture Framework for
Information Management (TAFIM) which specified a 7 layer model, one layer of
which was the presentation layer.  Other models include the 3 layered model
(UI, business logic, and database).  You might want to look into IEEE P1201
as a starting point for your research. (A Google search on layered API or
IEEE P1201 should get you going.)  P1201 was a set of standards (P1201.1 and
P1201.2) for this type of system architecture.  Other terms you might look
for include "application portability" and "modular toolkit environment".
Most references date back to 1990 to 1998.  It was abandoned by IEEE at
about 1997 or 1998.

Bill
-------------------------------------------------------
Bill Killam, MA CHFP
President, User-Centered Design, Inc.
20548 Deerwatch Place
Ashburn, VA 20147
email: [email protected]
Work/Fax: (703) 729-0998
Mobile: (703) 626-6318
Web: www.user-centereddesign.com

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