System Metaphor Revisited
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, Brian Foote
System Metaphor was and is an elusive practice of the original XP. It has largely been forgotten over time.
Yet in the past few years, my colleagues and I have discovered the stunning power of a genuine System Metaphor on our own shipping product. This makes us wonder why System Metaphor ever went out of vogue.
This session will explore why Metaphor matters. We’ll examine how our own Music Metaphor reshaped our flagship product, even our company, and how the right metaphor can supply the driving beat that can turn your product into a hit.
The first 45 minutes will be a fast-paced talk with some Q+A. We’ll cover the major topics around System Metaphor and go over the real-world examples and impact they’ve had on design, users, product.
We’ll spend the remaining 45 minutes collaborating with the audience to improve our System Metaphor muscles. We’ll consider several real-world systems and brain storm System Metaphors for them.
- Learn a brief history of the System Metaphor practice
- Understand what a System Metaphor is and is not
- Explore real-world System Metaphors and their impact on software design, product development and user experience
- Learn how a metaphor can lead you to surprising or unanticipated design and product insights
- Exercise your metaphor muscles on audience-supplied systems