Software from a different viewpointData oriented development

This is about data before it’s about software. Whether it comes from people or from automated systems, data is the raw material of what I do. It tells stories, describes goals, and makes it possible to see what’s working and what isn’t — and so to make the decisions needed to get there.

Software is what collects, organizes and analyzes that data, and safeguards its quality. Good data, gathered correctly and organized coherently, is what makes information useful and trustworthy.

In my experience, the steps above describe the relationship between software and the outside world. Data is the bridge between software and reality.

But there’s another relationship: the one between software and the people who use it.

Below are some of my projects — significant examples, not all of them successful — from times I was called on to take part, in one or more of the phases described above, in data collection and analysis work.