Identifying options involves a reconnaissance of the design space, so as to delineate the possible functions and features that could be incorporated into the product. Others on the design team may be more concerned with such issues as cost, security, and control. Trade-offs must be negotiated because there are conflicts of interest between operators, managers, designers, and support staff. Such attributes as learnability, usability, and functionality, are indicators of the performance of the operators. Cost, security, and control, are ecological attributes of the entire system.
Transparency aims at performance in terms of learnability and functionality.
Flexibility involves independence which is both dynamic and stable. Organization entails modeling by way of standardization and rationalization. Security requires restrictions to achieve privacy and specification of use. These are the features that end-users want and need, and ways must be found to incorporate them into systems architecture. Formally, otherware can be defined as the personal and organizational context and consequences of the application of telematics and informatics technologies.