Using CDs to design a new programming language- December 2, 2005 I came across an interesting Master's thesis the other day. Chad Austin developed a functional shading language and used the cognitive dimensions framework to guide and evaluate the design of the language. I'd be really interested in hearing more about this type of work. I'm keen to learn from others experiences using the cognitive dimensions framework.http://blogs.msdn.com/stevencl/archive/2005/12/02/499467.aspx Studying design patterns- December 1, 2005 The Channel 9 video prompted some interesting questions. One question asked about common patterns and design guidelines. Seemed like a good opportunity to mention that we're currently lucky enough to have Jeff Stylos from Carnegie Mellon University working with us as an intern until the end of December. While he's here he's studying different object creation patterns, particularly the use of required constructors versus default constructors. This is one of the first studies we've done.http://blogs.msdn.com/stevencl/archive/2005/11/30/498692.aspx Usability study video- December 1, 2005 In October, James Conard made a video of one of the usability sessions we ran on the Windows Workflow API. The video is now up on Channel 9. Somebody asked if the results of studies like these are generalised beyond the specific APIs being tested. The answer is yes, they are. There are a couple of ways we do this. I work with Krzysztof, Brad, Joe, Mitch and others on the WinFX review team. Whenever we're reviewing an API, I'll look for API designs that I think will...http://blogs.msdn.com/stevencl/archive/2005/11/30/498672.aspx |