Allen Design Philosophy
Metaphor in Web Design
Metaphor is a way to understand an unfamiliar concept by using a familiar one. In web design, we work with concepts and technologies that are new to many people. Metaphor is used to create common understanding of what's being done and how things work.
Consider a system to manage customer service requests based on priority. Instead of describing the technical solution (an array of complex sorting and storage algorithms) we could refer to a hospital:
"A patient enters the hospital and sees a receptionist. Depending on the patient's needs, they are sent to either the emergency room or to a waiting area. From the waiting area, they can be admitted into intensive care or be seen in a clinic..."
This is more than using a story to understand a problem. It is a "working solution" that the development team can model; "Create a 'receptionist' function to prioritize and a 'waiting area to list pending requests'. Send high-priority requests straight to the client's 'ER'."
Metaphor gives everyone a shared concept of what's happening and how it functions. We use metaphor to explain complex systems, to better understand problems and to model possible solutions.