John Lenarcic

The antiusability manifesto

In the style of a brief polemic editorial, antiusability is introduced as a radical design paradigm to reclaim conscious dominion of the user interface, with gaming machines being employed as a framing example.

Adaptable software configuration management: an investigation on australian agile software development organizations

There is a general misconception on the coexistence of Agile and Software Configuration Management (SCM) practices, and a very little reporting exists about how practitioners can benefit from their coexistence or how such coexistence can improve the organizational capabilities. This paper represent phase one of the research study, with the aim to identify adaptable software configuration management process in Australian agile software development organizations. This as a result will facilitate later phases by identifying suitable candidate organization(s) for case study and providing the basis for validation and generalization of Adaptable Configuration Management Traceability Model (AcmTm) through additional quantitative study. This research as a whole will support SCM practitioners in particular and IT practitioners in general by providing better understanding of SCM Process in agile environments. It will also contribute knowledge towards theory of lean thinking.

Behavioural issues in software development: The evolution of a new course dealing with the psychology of computer programming

A historical account is presented of the evolution of a new postgraduate level university course dealing with the psychology of computer programming. An outline of the course is presented and its objectives are discussed, as well as possible reasons for its premature demise and initiatives that could be undertaken to resurrect the format in a new guise.

Towards Holistic Traceability Solution: From Systematic Literature Review to Proposed Traceability Model

The purpose of traceability is to ensure persistent alignment of product knowledge between stakeholders, artifacts, and traceability objects. On the other hand, process knowledge is equally important to ensure a systematic software development process with accurate specification and verifiable quality attributes. Previous studies lacks in presenting a consolidated view from product and process knowledge perspectives. This study has taken a systematic literature review approach to evaluate sixty one previously published papers on traceability in leading journals and conferences. Based on the findings, the authors propose to extend the definition of an existing traceability meta-model to combine both product and process knowledge perspectives. The scope of this paper is to define the extension of the traceability meta-model without violating any of its statements. This study aims to contribute by taking steps towards defining a holistic model of traceability that will provide practical guidelines to IT practitioners in general and to process engineers in particular.

Reflections on the Gestation of Polymorphic Innovation: The Exploitation of Emergence in Social Network Development via Text Messaging

The impact of mobile text messaging is re-interpreted as an emergent technology that has accidentally been instrumental in the configuration of new social networks on a global scale. Using the unintended consequences of this implicit revolution in interpersonal communication as a catalyst for the generation of ideas, the argument is advanced that this is a manifestation of a new type of creative communication which we have identified as Polymorphic Innovation, a quasiintuitive perturbation on conventional notions of originality in the business development process. This paper describes the qualitative data collected during a pilot of a Short Messaging service (SMS) system in a University. The effect SMS use had on communication style and the construction of social networks are discussed.

NaMOS; scheduling Patrol Boats and crews for the Royal Australian Navy

A system for optimum allocating of crews to a new class of Patrol Boats was developed by Horn et al [1] as part of a feasibility study commissioned by Australian Defence Forces. In their work, Horn et al [1] implemented a pilot study of multicrewing via simulated annealing coupled with unique heuristic techniques within a multi-stage problem-solving framework. This paper outlines an extension of that work that was carried out under contract by the research arm of the Australian Department of Defence (Defence Science and Technology Organisation, aka DSTO). This work not only embraces, but also extends, the work of Horn et al [1]. As part of this research an open and extendable optimization platform was developed. Two optimization routines (including Adaptive Simulated Annealing (ASA)) were developed and implemented as plug-ins to the framework. Additionally, human-computer interaction (HCI) principles were used to develop a new user interface for the optimization framework. The system was successfully deployed and is now being used by the Patrol Boat Force Element Group of the Royal Australian Navy.

The Tragedy of the Virtual Commons as Manifested in the Death of Blogs

The life span of weblogs is investigated with reference to Lanham’s view of the ”Economics of Attention” and Hardin’s conception of the ”Tragedy of the Commons.” It is advanced that the unfettered buildup of inactive blogs is leading to a surfeit of information which effectively disables potential readers due to an excess of choice. One factor indicating healthy activity in a blog is postulated as being sufficient feedback from readers that leads to the emergence of an ongoing social network. This is viewed as an example of a virtual technology shaping social groups. Research-in-progress is outlined that refers to observations of various film music blogs derived via the case study method, featuring a focused commentary on one that has subsequently been a victim of death in the blogosphere. In this case, the forced extinction of a blog is taken to be an example of human foibles influencing the download spiral of one instance of a virtual technology.