Abstract

The properties that explain great physical architecture also explain great information systems architecture. Christopher Alexander has identified fifteen elements of design, called center properties, that when expressed through physical architecture elicit the experience of beautiful and high-quality design. George Lakoff’s theories of human cognition and language substantiate the credibility and importance of Alexander’s center properties and suggest that the language used to describe these properties for physical architecture can be translated to other domains. Using Lakoff’s theories, we provide evidence that Alexander’s center properties reflect fundamental characteristics of order in design and support our evidence by translating the properties from the domain of physical architecture to the domain of information systems. We validate our design characteristics for information systems by analyzing them side-by-side with best practices in system architecture and design as exemplified by the Apache web server. We further show that Fred Brooks’ analysis of essence vs. accident in software design complements the characteristics developed in this research. Taken together, Brooks’ dichotomy and our research help in developing the requirements against which to judge the beauty and quality of information system design. Finally, we explore how identifying essence and accidents can be applied to physical architecture to expand the understanding of design beauty and quality in that domain.