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From: "Mike Warner" <mikew@tfdg.com>
Subject: RFC: SME's and Gear-heads
Date: 1998/02/03
Message-ID: <6b8ch3$jeu$1@usenet51.supernews.com>#1/1
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Date: 1998-02-03T00:00:00+00:00
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Hey now.

PREAMBLE

Software Engineers and Subject Matter Experts.

The domain: equipment designers' cost analysis systems with variants. This
variant
deals with Spares Optimization. You're going to build a Tactical Fighter,
you need to forecast optimal spares warehousing so you can bid the project,
etc., etc. etc. You want our App, kindof a "Spares Pro" deal.

Blah blah blah. You get the picture.

I'm a virgin in this domain, more of a pure software engineering type.
Propellers and gears. I need to deal with Doctor Death, who is Mr. Spares.

My thinking is that the folks I work for need some sort of "Dan Bricklin's
Demo 2" so that the various SMEs can simply sketch out their vision with
notes and then pass that along to the programmers.

I'm envisioning some sort of VB-like, palette-based GUI builder that doesn't
do anything but allow you to draw and link widgets and then link to each
widget a little pop-up help box (say, by right-clicking on the widget) that
hold notes supplied by the
SME that explain and direct.

For some domains, this seems a much more intelligent way of linking
Gear-heads and cranky SMEs than face-to-face or paper, although these are
certainly necessary and supplemental.

THE QUESTION

Does anyone know of any software that allows a non-programmer to draw forms,
draw widgets on the forms, link widgets together, and link explanatory text
to each widget?

Not only does this provide a nice channel between SMEs and Gear-heads,
Salesdroids could also take the tool into the field with them and re-draw
the interface when customers ask for modifications in the UI.

Salesdroid brings re-drawn UI back and shows it to Gear-heads, who make the
changes.

Just whuchu need, right?

Comment, please. Thank you.

mcw