Innovative Software Product Design and Development - 01

This series of articles tries to put forward General Concepts, Principles and Guidelines for Innovative Software Product Design and Development. These are based on the experience of the author and also an outcome of the Proficience Program in Innovative Product Design and Development at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. This includes abstract problem solving, understanding innovation, innovative product development, understanding product market/competitors and focusing on techniques to know the customer pain points & thereby measure customer satisfaction.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy was proposed by Benjamin Bloom (Along with Other Collaborators) to classify educational objectives based on levels of complexity & specificity. There are three main domains into which these objectives are classified:

• Cognitive Domain (Knowledge-Based)
• Affective Domain (Emotive Based)
• Psychomotor Domain (Action Based)

In 2001, Bloom's Taxonomy was revised into the below form.

Remember

It is the lowest level in the hierarchy & emphasizes memorization without understanding. Learners will have to absorb, remember, recognize and recall information. However, it is a building block for other levels as Learners must be able to absorb and remember things before moving up the hierarchy.

Understand

Remember & Understand go together, but it goes one step ahead. It emphasizes comprehending whatever is learned. Learners should be able to describe the material presented and also be able to grasp and interpret prior learning.

Apply

The emphasis is on applying concepts, laws, methods, rules, theories and any newly learned info to situations with minimal direction. Learning outcomes require a higher level of understanding than Understand.

Analyze

This is a higher level than Apply because here the emphasis is on understanding the content and structure of the information. The learner will have to break down information into various components & understand the relationship between each part of the information. This may also involve understanding the abstractness or principles involved in each component of information.

Evaluate

The next higher level for a learner is Evaluate where the ability to judge the value of a material applicable to a current situation. The ability to justify a stand or decision through comparing and contrasting, summarizing and criticizing are applicable here. The outcomes here are very high in the cognitive hierarchy, requiring all abilities below it in the learning hierarchy plus the judgment based on criteria

Create

The highest cognitive abilities or outcomes are associated with Create. The ability of a learner to use all of the levels of the hierarchy to investigate, author, formulate, assemble, and design absolutely new or original work.

Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience (Cone of Learning)

Edgar Dale was an American Educationist who developed the Cone of Learning in 1946. It’s an effort to estimate or deduce (amount of) information one can remember based on how one encounters information. The actual numbers (%) mentioned originated in 1967, based on a published study/article.

The above figure is self-explanatory. On the left-hand outer side of the cone,  details on what an individual or learner will be able to remember based on the actual activities carried out is provided. On the right-hand outer side of the cone,  the outcomes of the learners on what they learner will be equipped to do (or be able to do) as a result of these activities. The center of the cone (or the cone itself) provides examples of the 'type of activities'. This includes examples of activities that are usually done by learners or advanced learners.

Make Meaning vs. Make Money

As per Guy Kawasaki, the essence of Entrepreneurship is to make meaning. The abstract/important points in this regard:

• Companies that have their fundamental mission to make the world a better place have a greater chance to make a difference and succeed.
• If you make meaning, there is a greater chance that you will make money. If you set out to make money, you may make neither money nor any difference to the world (meaning).
• Three ways to make meaning: -Increase the Quality of Life, -Right a Wrong, -Prevent the end of Something Good
• If you are not doing any of the three above, then you may have to rethink your company’s purpose to be.

Buyer's Market vs. Seller's Market

A Buyer's Market is one in which the supply far exceeds the demand. In such a market, the chances of goods lying on the shelf for a long time & the prices being lower than usualare the outcomes or characteristics.

A Seller's Market is the exact reversal of the above conditions. This is the one in which the demand far exceeds supply. The seller has an upper hand under such circumstances and the chances that there is a shortage of goods due to quick sales of available goods & that too at a higher price than usual.

[Relevant/Special Author Introduction for this Article]

Sumith Puri has 17y 06m of Experience in the Software Industry, primarily in Product Development. He is at the Principal Software Architect (Java/Java EE/Microservices Specialist) Level. He completed his Xth and XIIth (Computer Science) from NPS, Kochi, India. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science & Engineering) from SRSIT, Bangalore. Later, He completed his Executive Program (Data Mining & Analytics) from IIT, Roorkee, and Executive Certificate Program (Entrepreneurship) from IIM, Kashipur. He is an Ex-Yahoo, Symantec, Huawei, Oracle, Aptean, Zycus-iContract, Atos]

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