The Abstraction Point is your position in the many layers of abstraction that make up all technology. Users have higher abstraction points than builders - however, especially in the software world, there are builders who themselves are abstracted by the tools they use to develop.
As developers and designers, we can best solve problems if we understand what the tools we are use are doing for us, relying on them to improve our efficiency, not replace knowledge.
On the other hand, as we build software we must also recognize that we are intentionally creating a layer of abstraction, and we fail when the user is forced into deeper understanding.
So, we find ourselves in an interesting middle ground. To be the best we can be as builders of software, we must lower our abstraction point to best solve problems, and we must build software that holds our users at an abstraction point in which they are comfortable and secure.
Stable software that is enjoyably usable. That is the goal, and that goal depends on understanding the abstraction point.
No comments:
Post a Comment