Keynote by Larry Constantine: "Objects as if People Mattered."

Objects and classes, methods and messages, indeed, all the engaging argot of object-orientation have become the ordinary language of software development, and a tentative truce has been proclaimed in the civil conflicts of notations and methods. Still, we may be failing in a larger campaign, which is not about the shape of our components but how well the handles attached to them fit the hands of our users. It is not about how well our components communicate with each other, but how well they communicate with our users.

If truly usable and useful object-oriented systems have been delivered, it has not been by virtue of object-oriented methods, which by and large are mute on the subjects of usage, utility, and usability. Perhaps it is time to turn our attention outward and notice that on the other side of our interface objects are real people looking for real help with their every day work. If people matter, than objects must be constructed by methods that keep this in mind. This raises difficult questions about how an object- oriented frame work can effectively address the needs of users and the issues of utility and usability. It challenges us to explore the integration of usage-centered approaches into object-oriented methods.

Bio: Larry L. Constantine, Professor of Computing Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, is a leading international authority on the human side of software development. One of the pioneers of software engineering and the original inventor of structured design, he has made recognized contributions to both the human sciences and computing sciences. His current research and teaching interests focus on methods to improve the usability of software and to improve the effectiveness of software developers. As Principal Consultant with the international consulting firm of Constantine & Lockwood, Ltd., his clients include companies and organizations around the world. The author of over 100 published papers in several disciplines, his nine books include Constantine on Peopleware (Prentice Hall, 1995), based on his popular columns, and the forthcoming book with Lucy Lockwood, Software for Use.