Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
dependable methodology. Yet, as we observed in the Foreword, and as we
will expand upon in the next chapter, there are ways in which art is “law-
ful”; that is, there are formal, structural, and causal dimensions that can be
identifi ed and used both descriptively and productively. The fi nal goal of
this chapter is to justify taking an artistic approach to the problem of de-
signing human-computer activity.
In his classic book
The Elements of Friendly Software Design
(1982), Paul
Heckel characterized software design as primarily concerned with commu-
nication. He observed that “among all the art forms that can teach us about
communication, the most appropriate is fi lmmaking” (p. 4). Heckel chose
fi lmmaking as an example over older forms (such as theatre) because it “il-
lustrates the transition from an engineering discipline to an art form.” He
went on to observe that movies did not achieve wide popular success until
artists replaced engineers as the primary creators. Heckel's book is fi lled
with references to illusion, performance, and other theatrical and fi lmic
metaphors with software examples to illustrate each observation. He gives
the use of metaphor in interface design a different twist by employing fi lm-
making, writing, acting, and other “communication crafts” as metaphors
for the process of software design.
In 1967, Ted Nelson examined the evolution of fi lm in order to under-
stand how the new medium he envisioned—hypertext—should develop. In
considering the ways in which the stage had infl uenced fi lm, he noted that
“stage content, when adapted, was appropriate and useful,” while stage
techniques (such as the notion of a proscenium and an insistence on contin-
uous action within scenes) were not (Nelson 1967). From the vantage point
of today, we can see a migration of both techniques and content from fi lm
into the computer medium. If one takes the theatre and the fi lm medium as
subsets of a larger category, as representations of action in virtual worlds,
then another key similarity between these media and computers are their
fundamental elements of form and structure and their purpose.
Both Heckel and Nelson draw our attention to the centrality of “make-
believe” in the conception and design of software. An engineer's view of
software design is rooted in logic, realizing an orderly set of functions in an
internally elegant program. In Heckel's view, the better approach is rooted
in vision, realizing an environment for action through evocative, consistent
illusions. In Nelson's, it is the creation of “virtualities”—representations for
