A set of concepts that support structuring a design task and conceiving solutions. They are mental tools, but can be expressed and communicated through notation systems, that is, sets of signs and icons that allow representation of a design solution to our senses. The combination design language and notation system is a central concept in the definition of a design team or community, because a shared language is the medium for the creation of shared culture.
Published in Chapter:
Supporting Decision Making in Using Design Languages for Learning Designs and Learning Objects
Eddy Boot (TNO Defence, Security and Safety, The Netherlands), Luca Botturi (Università della Svizzera italianavia, Switzerland), Andrew S. Gibbons (Brigham Young University, USA), and Todd Stubbs (Brigham Young University, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-861-1.ch042
Abstract
In developing modern instructional software, learning designs are used to formalize descriptions of roles, activities, constraints, and several other instructional design aspects and learning objects are used to implement those learning designs in instructional software. Central in both constructs is the use of design languages to support structuring a design task and conceiving solutions. Due to a lack of standardized design languages that are shared between designers, producers, and other stakeholders, the application of learning designs and learning objects is often unsatisfactory for three reasons: (a) different instructional and technical structures are often not meaningfully organized; (b) different levels of detail are mixed together; and (c) different expressions are used in a nonstandardized manner. A decision model is introduced—the 3D-model—that supports better selection and application of design languages. Two studies show that the 3D-model contributes to a better information transition between instructional designers and software producers.