Front-ends are results of a deployment principle and the interface of the inner world of the innovation to its actors (users). They determine, how the users experience the innovation (UX -User Experience).
Time types are quite self-evident. You've introduces a blazingly fast engine, a real time system or and off-time "computer-aided…" system. They're quite easy to level. The same Innovation Mesh principles are relevant to time types.
Choices you make in reality and style types will help you to check later whether they are consistent with the most important choices of structure and matter types. If you have not much to say, I does make much difference how real it is, how it is said?!
Style Types
Documentary - a widely used document-centered system is Excel. So called note book front-ends supporting documents that look like text books, but behave like programs, have been introduced with the Wolfram Notebook Interface, IPython Notebook Interface…Notebook front-ends are built for interactive computing. They're usual cell based, combining text, input and output cells…and run at desk-tops or the web. Not surprisingly they are widely used in science, research and technical computing.
Literary - referring to systems with linguistic interfaces. They are used to organize question and answer sessions (Google…), but in "quantitative programming" we are especially interested in literate (declarative) programming that may lead to the support of natural language programming. In literate programming methodologies and implementation details become invisible…algorithms may be automatically selected, precision automatically controlled…languages may support multiprogramming styles, like procedural, logic, functional, object oriented…they support development the explorative, experimental and evolutionary fashion. Literary interfaces represent a kind of "high-art" sensibility.
Graphical - referring to user experience by point&click interactions controlled by a mouse, leap motion…With the mergence of smart devices the style has changed. After a time where the web browser have been promised as powerful client operation systems the apps have introduced user interfaces that are more about getting than searching…But there's more: visual programming is style where program elements are manipulated graphically (rather than textually). They may by icon-based, form-based, graph-based…
There's a paradox with GUIs. Skeuomorphs. GUIs of programs are skeuomorphs, if they emulate objects of the physical world (like a physical audio equipment…). New media give you the opportunity to design new interaction paradigms:
Theatrical - interfaces that work with qualities of a theater…with actors, scenes…They're event driven. You have them in computer games, but they're also improving instructions, guides, education…in general, they can be a great medium for study, skill gain…
This was the simpler part, without thinking too much about the conventions, obligatory workflows, requirements, positioning, technology...I can say:
UnRisk Capital Manager is Realistic, Real Time, Documentary…
but
UnRisk Quant is Idealistic, Off-Time, Literary…
although both utilize quite the same platforms from the UnRisk technology stack.
Next, I'll dive into the essence of innovations the Structure and Matter - about workflow, purpose and realization types.
