Software Module Tagging for Reuse-Oriented Product Development
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Solution Overview
Problem
Product managers often lack full insight into a company's capabilities, leading to duplicative product development and waste due to the reinvention of existing features.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows product managers and software engineers to search for existing software modules using a graphical user interface, assigning tags to components describing their features, entities, actions, and outcomes, and matching queries to identify existing or similar components, with the option to create new components if none match.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If product managers create new products without full insight into existing capabilities, then product development can proceed independently and quickly, but duplicative features are created and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically tagging software components with metadata about their functionality, entities, and capabilities before product development queries arise. This pre-organization of information allows rapid searching and identification of existing components, enabling product managers to quickly determine whether to reuse or create new features, thus maintaining development speed while preventing duplication
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system that acts as a mediator between product managers and the company's software component library. This intermediary automatically analyzes components, assigns tags, and provides search capabilities, allowing product managers to efficiently discover existing capabilities without needing deep technical knowledge, thereby preventing duplicative development while maintaining productivity
2Adaptability or versatility
If product managers lack insight into company capabilities, then they can make independent product decisions, but they cannot identify opportunities to reuse existing components
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically analyzing software components and assigning tags without requiring product managers to manually investigate or understand the technical details. The automated tagging system serves itself by continuously organizing the component library, making capability information readily accessible to product managers who can then independently make informed decisions about component reuse
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary tagging system is introduced that bridges the gap between product managers and existing capabilities. This intermediary automatically generates and maintains metadata about software components, providing product managers with the information they need to identify reuse opportunities while preserving their independence in product decision-making
3Measurement precision
If developers manually search for existing components without a systematic approach, then they can find components through personal knowledge, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-tagging all software components with comprehensive metadata about their functionality, entities, and capabilities before any search occurs. This advance organization enables rapid, accurate matching when product managers or developers query the system, eliminating time-consuming manual searches while maintaining high precision in component identification
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical process of manual component searching with an automated information retrieval system. Instead of developers manually browsing or searching through codebases, the system uses automated tag-based matching and search algorithms to quickly identify relevant components, dramatically reducing search time while improving matching accuracy through systematic analysis
Data Source
AI summary
A system for allowing product managers and software engineers to search for existing software modules that meet desired parameters and to identify opportunities to develop new software modules is provided. When product developer creates a software component they assign combinations of tags to the software component in a predetermined format and structure that describes features of the component such as the entity that would use the component, actions that are performed by the component, objects used by the component, and desired outcomes of the component. These tags are associated with the software component in the system. Later, when a developer has a need or idea for a particular component, the developer uses the system to construct a sentence that describes the features of the component as described above. The system then identifies any existing components that match or are close matches to the described component.