How do we talk about design? Are there concepts in other design professions that are worth using in interaction design? LukeW introduces the design Parti from architecture school. 
LukeW read Matthew Fredrick’s 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School. In the book Matthew introduces the concept of Parti and describes it as the central idea or concept of a building. The parti is usually expressed as a diagram showing the theme or experience of the new building.
Jumping off of the Parti concept LukeW describes a Design Sandwich. Yes you need a parti to have a sandwich. From the Parti the Design Principles are informed. These Design Principles help determine the Patterns and Best Practices as well as the individual Design Decisions. All of this informs the Design Considerations, Opportunities and Limitations.
Can the Parti and Sandwich help inform better design? Does the Parti help the architect or is it just tradition? I would wager that it helps and maybe large software projects should consider a Parti to guide its decisions.
Check out the presentation: LukeW at Interaction09
LukeW’s Blog Summary