Information Archaeology: Understanding Historical Design Decisions in Legacy Software

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Information Archaeology Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 27th September 2013

description

The dark matter of the IA universe can be found in the kinds of internal software tools routinely found within large organisations. Often poorly conceived and implemented, these tools are nonetheless used on daily basis by long suffering employees. The nature of these tools is often bound up in organisational politics and decision-making in ways that seem incredibly anachronistic when compared to the advances that have been made in the design of consumer software. An important step for anyone tasked with redesigning internal tools is to understand why they were designed the way they were. IA provides a rich and varied toolkit that can be used to map and identify historical mistakes in the design of legacy systems and supports an "archaeological" exploration revealing how poor decisions manifest themselves in an organisation's tools. (Presented as a Lightning talk at Euro IA 2013)

Transcript of Information Archaeology: Understanding Historical Design Decisions in Legacy Software

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Information ArchaeologyLightning Talk @ Euro IA 201327th September 2013

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The software that UX forgot about

The dark matter of enterprise IT

Information Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Legacy SystemsInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Software Stratification

.NETJava

iOSAndroid

ASPPerl

IE8

IE6

IE7Safari

Firefox

Scala

Objective C

Ruby on Rails

Java

FortranCOBOL

Chrome

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Study the TrapsInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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IA Tools and ThinkingInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Company

Website

Colour

Country

Language

LocationAccesories

Product

Store

Size

SKU

Name

TintedReady Mix

Palette

Roomset

Tester

Order

DeliveryPayment

Account

Story PromotionInspiration Content

BrandCollectionArticle

Owns

Runs

In

Type of

Related to

Contains

Has

In

With

In

Has

Sold in

Sold inRelated to

GenericHas unique

Has

Has multipleHas uniqueAvailable in

Contains

Used inContains

Available as

Requires

Used in

Available asHas

Stored in

Placed for Has specific

Scheduled for

Has base

Relates to a

Service type

Product

Resiliency type

Connection Type

has resiliency

supports

Pricing Type

Pricing Scenario

Access Speed

CustomerType

is applicable to

Country

is available in

has

Usage Scenario

has

Pricing System

is priced by

VOIP

supports

CPE

supplied with

Routing Type

has

SLA

Contention Ratio

has

usessupports

supports

is recommended forguaranteed by

Domain ModelsInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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ape.intra.bt.com

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APE 3.0

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Motor accidents

Manual lookup1. Vehicle

details2. Vehicle

usage3. Vehicle ownership

1. Personal details

2. Claims & convictions

3. Driving history

4. Additional driver

1. Policy details

2. Contact & login details Your quotes

Modifications

Do you know reg details?

Enter reg number

Manufacturer

Model

Registration year and

letter

Number of doors and

style

Transmission

Engine capacity

Trim

Select vehicle

Imported

Immobiliser?

Choose immobiliser

type

Tracking device

Right/left hand drive

Car seats

Car value

Modified?

When did you buy?

What do you use for?

Who uses for business?

Annual mileage

Calculator

Weekdays

Weekends

Other

Where kept during day?

Where kept during night?

Overnight at home?

Overnight address

Use any other

vehicles?

Choose vehicle type

Registered keeper?

Company name

Choose legal owner

Add person

Relation

Title

Firstname

Lastname

Date of birth

Same address?

Title

Firstname

Lastname

Date of birth

Marital status

Own your home?

Children under 16?

Address

Employment status

Job title?

Industry?

Why not working?

How long in UK?

Motor accidents?

Motor convictions?

Who was driving?

Who was at fault?

Injuries?

Date of incident?

Type of damage?

Claim made?

Known amount

Motor convictions

What was conviction

for?

Date of conviction?

Penalty points?

Number of points

Resulting fine?

Amount of fine

Resulting ban?

Length of ban

Non-motoring convictions

Type of licence

How long?

When did you get?

Additional qualifications

?

Please select?

Medical conditions?

When?

Insurance declined?

Spoilers/bodykits

Body modificatins

Paintwork/stickers

Suspensions/steering

Wheels/tyres

Engine/transmission

Brakes

Accessories

Relation

Title

Firstname

Lastname

Date of birth

Main driver?

Type of cover?

How pay?

When start?

Voluntary excess

NCD years

Named driver experience

Years of named driver experience

How did you earn?

Email

Re-type email

Main telephone number

Agree to contact

Agree to terms

Receiving quotes

Results

More details

Your shortlist

Change cover type

Type of theft?

What was claim made

for?

What was claim made

for?

Why so many options here?

Hidden functionality

This flow seems complicated

What does this system do?

Maps and DiagramsInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Naming Things Correctly

Information architecture is the only field I'm aware of that is concerned with the structural integrity of

meaning.

Jorge Arango

Information Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

http://www.flickr.com/photos/achew/3987039984

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Confusing Codenames

A.P.E. W.A.S.P.

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In Defence of the Org ChartInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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“Why'd it have to be S.N.A.K.E.s?”Information Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Cynefin Framework for SenseMakingInformation Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013

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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it.

George Santayana

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Cheers@[email protected]

Information Archaeology - Lightning Talk @ Euro IA 2013 - 27th September 2013