Understanding expertise in information systems design, or, What's all the fuss about objects?

摘要

The concept of Object Orientation (OO) is very appealing to many in the information systems field. Although it requires a radical shift in the traditional systems development paradigm, many have begun to embrace it. This paper explores the literature on knowledge representation and expertise in the cognitive sciences and in information systems to lend substance to the underlying OO approach. We show that OO closely parallels our current understanding of the concept of expert knowledge representation based on schemata and scripts, and thus is particularly attractive to individuals who are or aspire to be ‘expert’ systems developers. We then examine the IS literature on expertise and reinterpret findings to support our depiction of expertise within IS. The OO approach incorporates many of the characteristics of expert-level knowledge representation, which may explain its appeal to those in the systems development profession. We propose that the OO methodology also contributes to the acquisition of expertise by documenting and sharing the modelling approach of those with considerable IS design expertise.