New User-driven Software Tools in Web 2.0

The recent emergence of web mash-ups and other Web 2.0 tools are driving the development of new practices in software and systems development. Web mash-ups combine data and services from across the web. This trend of how to do application development is moving fast: some estimate that as many as 1,000 new applications are developed every six months based on the Google Maps API alone.

 

The new user-driven model involves sharing and distribution. However, sharing need not be just of documents but also of services, knowledge, resources, and objects. Distribution has also broadened, not just providing access to humans, but also to applications.

 

Web mash-ups are often created by individuals motivated by a particular problem. One of the earliest web mash-ups housingmaps.com was created when its developer, Paul Rademacher, encountered an immediate and pressing problem in his everyday life—he was looking for a new house. In examining the daily updated real-estate listings on Craigslist, he was confused by which houses he had already seen. One day, he decided he needed to do something about it. The mash-up approach drastically reduced the development costs, making the task of developing such an application feasible.

 

 

 

Creating mash-ups does not require detailed knowledge of web technologies and protocols. Websites, such as Yahoo Pipes and Microsoft Popfly, provide an end-user interface to facilitate creating mash-up code. They emphasize the central importance of user involvement. The user-driven development are made based on the users’ collaborative experience of integrating the software into their everyday activities, not based on abstract design principles or predictions of what the users might need.

 

 

 

 

In traditional models, like the waterfall model, the conception is usually linear: Design -> Build

-> Use. The user-driven approach calls for amore circular model. In this model, the starting point is people’s every-day lives. In the course of living their lives, they encounter problems. Because mash-ups can be easily constructed, a quick fix is built to address the immediate problem. The system is reintroduced into people’s lives, and they continue with their everyday activities until the next problem occurs. Thus, a key feature of this model is how quickly it is possible to cycle around it.

 

 

Chen Chen

2008-4-5

 

 

Tags:
CS292, User-driven Model, Software Development , Web2.0, Mash-up, Yahoo Pipes, Microsoft Popfly, Google Maps

 

 

~ by chencn on April 5, 2008.