Hypermedia systems development: a comparative study of software engineers and graphic designers
Date
2003Author
Lang, Michael
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Lang, M. (2003). Hypermedia systems development: a comparative study of software engineers and graphic designers. "Communications of the Association for Information Systems", 12(16), 242-257.
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Abstract
Hypermedia systems development is, in many regards, different from ¿conventional¿ systems
development, chief amongst these differences being its multidisciplinary nature. Foremost
amongst the roles in hypermedia development are software engineering and graphic design.
However, there has traditionally been a pronounced tension between software engineers and
graphic designers. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of the differences between
the two camps with a view to bringing them closer together. This paper reports on the findings of
a survey of hypermedia developers conducted in Ireland. One of the objectives of the survey was
to compare and contrast the development approaches, methods, and techniques used by
software engineers with those used by graphic designers. It was found that software engineers
and graphic designers are much closer than might be believed in their attitudes on the value and
importance of processes and documented working methods. However, graphic designers
primarily base development approaches around the use of specific tools, whereas software
engineers are more reliant on traditional and object-oriented software development methods.
Regarding diagramming methods, there is some evidence of cross-pollination, as software
engineers often use informal techniques such as storyboarding and graphic designers use
software engineering techniques such as use case diagrams. However, graphic designers find
software engineering techniques to be less useful than vice versa.