Language as Action in Design Meetings: From theory to practice

Quotations from the book Understanding Computers and Cognition: A new foundation for design by Winograd and Flores (W&F) [18] highlight concepts that even ten years after publication continue to be relevant for information system (IS) design. The observation that language creates reality has been a consistent influence in my own work within design meetings. I have synthesized additional concepts and theories from other sources to include aspects of partnership, speaking into commitments, reflection-in-action, and coaching. This has led me to a new appreciation of how fundamental and radical (in the sense of “returning to the root”) are the W&F language/action challenges to conventional wisdom and accepted beliefs about design. The “theoretical” insights presented by W&F can have practical effects in the way we conduct our design meetings — offering new opportunities for successful transfer of IS theory and models to practice.