Regarding Software as a Material of Design

Abstract

We discuss the idea that software can be considered to be a material of design—an idea introduced in Löwgren & Stolterman’s recent book, “Thoughtful Interaction Design.” We discuss the implications of this idea for regarding software design to be a design discipline within design traditions. In order to characterize this way of thinking and give it some utility, we propose a paradigm for regarding software as a material of design that we call the SoftMat paradigm. We describe a framework for characterizing philosophical viewpoints about design that informs the SoftMat paradigm and that we call VMR—for values, methods, and reasoning. We describe a framework for characterizing practical viewpoints about design that equally informs the SoftMat paradigm and that we call MKST—for mind sets, knowledge sets, skill sets, and tool sets. The goal of this paper is to describe the SoftMat paradigm and its constituent frameworks. As well, we look to the future and propose ways in which the SoftMat paradigm may be used to improve understandings in multidisciplinary design collaborations.