Who We Are

Respect Systems was founded in 1999 by Gordon Benett, a technology strategist and engineer with over twenty years' experience planning, architecting, developing and managing systems that generate value by empowering people. Together with a team of freelance developers, designers and writers, Respect Systems undertakes private-label projects with an emphasis on:

• generating value through use
• managing costs through process
• controlling risk through architecture
• applying a systems perspective to maximize utility
• empowering people through training and personal design

See some of our work here.

Respect-Oriented System Design

Modern approaches to software construction have come a long way in recognizing the importance of usability to project success. Requirements analysis, modeling, use cases, and design patterns that separate presentation and business logic put user needs in the foreground, where they belong. However, neither these techniques, nor the larger universe of user-centric design practices to which they belong, adequately ensure that developers build systems that people want to use. The clinical harshness of the terms technologists use to describe the rapprochment of people and technology—terms such as such as 'usability,' 'human factors,' 'man-machine interface'—indicates a basic disconnect between the players. To make computers tools of empowerment, more is needed than merely including people-as-users in the software development process.

What is needed is respect: between the people who specify, build and work with the artifacts of technology. In recognizing this as a crucial and often missing ingredient, Respect Systems brings a unique, cross-disciplinary vision to projects that hinge on people's use of software. In each of our engagements the Respect-Oriented Design philosophy is carried out, starting with consensus-building between key stakeholders and proceeding through design validation, documentation and prototyping, usability testing, and finally delivery and training. Never dogmatic, Respect Systems can tailor these phases to the client's existing technology base and preferred methodology, or can introduce its own formalisms. Flexibility and a focus on people are the keys to our success.