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ESD.951 Engineering Innovation and Design

An Inquiry into Good Design or…

“You Know It When You See It”

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Design

  “’To design’ refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component with intention....The final product can be anything from socks and jewelry to graphical user interfaces and charts. Even virtual concepts such as corporate identity and cultural traditions... are sometimes designed. More recently, processes (in general) have also been treated as products of design, giving new meaning to the term "process design”. [Wikipedia]

  Can design an iPod, or an algorithm, or a symphony, or a process, or a molecule… –  Or a universe!!!

  Design is absolutely critical – but what distinguishes “good” design? –  From the course description:

“We will illustrate and develop these skills by undertaking a representative software development project as a vehicle.”

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The Challenge  Many rules, but design, like leadership, is a skill  Design goes far beyond the technical and process skills   Process skills (left brain)

–  Setting objectives, identifying customers, developing technologies, setting goals, implementing test program, delivery and validation

  Intuitive skills (right brain) –  Innovation, sense-making, active listening, lateral and associative thinking,

creating goals from ambiguity, gut check, robustness   Character and attitudinal learning (heart and muscle)

–  Making it happen [work] no mater what (design for failure), vision, empathy, creative dissatisfaction with status quo, ingenuity and resourcefulness

  “Soul”  In my experience, 10% of engineers have “the magic” [circuit card example] Almost a case of “you know it when you see it”*   Consider the VCR…

*And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good... Need we ask anyone to tell us these things? [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]

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Examples of Good Design   VCR inclined head, tape loading mechanism   Player piano   Nail clipper   Retracting antenna   Retractable pen (is that the only way?)   Remote control for PowerPoint (where is the on-off switch?)   Turn indicator for 1993 Nissan Maxima   WII game   WII coordinate system (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/)

  Good design is everywhere   It’s a way of thinking   HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS IS AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU

“KNOW.” PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT! [avoid “pattern matching”]

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Good Design Has…   Integrity   Ethics   Beauty   Elegance   Simplicity   Practicality   (you know it when you see it)

  Form follows function   “Wow” factor   Nature as the ultimate designer

–  Talk with what you eat with! –  Evolution vs revolution

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Types of Design   Product design   Software design   Biological design   Process design   Facilities design   Management systems design   Services design

Molecular design Structural design Systems design

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Attributes of Good Design (1)

  Product-oriented (Schindall)   1. You know it when you see it

2. Minimalist -- meets requirements in an efficient manner 3. Wow factor -- leaps out at you 4. Robust -- failure-resistant 5. "Anticipatory" -- easily modified to overcome unanticipated problems (this is subtle but important) 6. Adaptable 7. Expandable 8. Flexible 9. Combines functions to increase efficiency – e.g. mounting bracket doubles as heat sink, etc.

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Attributes of Good Design (2)

  Software (Kotelly)   1. Visually Clean

2. Communicates clearly and quickly 3. Anthropomorphic 4. Useful in some way (intended or unintended) 5. Provides clear feedback 6. Keeps users oriented as to their current state 7. Maintains locus of control with user 8. Emotionally compelling 9. Provides simple controls for input 10. Aligns to societal mores 11. Provides minimal number of features for the maximum number of contextually relevant desires that the user expects of the system 12. Honest (with regards to feedback, expectation setting, etc.)

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Attributes of Good Design (3)   Biology with Nature as the designer [Kodell]   **1. Responsive to environmental cues--on timescale appropriate for cue   **2. Requires resources that are plentiful rather than scarce   **3. Sexual reproduction   **4. Internal compartmentalization to sequester incompatibilities   **5. Self-correction   **6. Self-repair   **7. Integrates response given multiple environmental cues   **8. Templates future versions of itself   **9. Symbiotic co-existence   **10. Self-limiting life span   **11. Self-protection mechanisms   **12. Applies theme and variations once jackpot design solution is found   **13. Survives (so dinosaurs come off the list of "good designs" by this

criterion)

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Attributes of Good Design (4)   Biology with Bio-engineers as the designer) [Kodell]   1. Reliable functional assembly of DNA parts (note: this is currently

unavailable)   2. Conforms to standards for physical assembly of DNA parts (note:

currently there are ~no standards)   3. Scalable--works in a small dish in the lab, works in a 250 gallon tank   4. Includes bar-codes to monitor dispersion and credit (or blame) the

biodesigner   5. Limited potential for dual-use   6. Limited intellectual property fencing around components   7. Public documentation of performance--a "spec sheet" based on

successes and failures   (more…)

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Attributes of Good Design (4a)   Biology with Bio-engineers as the designer) [Kodell] (cont.)

  8. Organism fails to evolve away from design   9. Guided by computer-aided design tools (experiments are currently

needed to know if a design will work)   10. Design draws limited cellular resources   11. Optimized through rapid build/test/de-bug cycles   12. Kill-switch if organism behaves inappropriately, gets into places never

intended or evolves away from original design   13. Biodesigner's intent is overwhelmingly constructive for community

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Attributes of Good Design (5)   Chemical or physical process applied to feedstock to create desired

products) [Atkins]   a) Effective (achieves objectives)   b) Efficient (limited use of additional catalysts and chemicals, limited

creation of by-products)   c) Simple (limited number of steps/stages)   d) Low energy usage   e) Low environmental emissions   f) Easy to control   g) Self regulating   h) Avoidance of high pressures/temperatures   i) Avoidance of hazardous chemicals  

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Attributes of Good Design (6)   Facilities or plant where process is carried out [Atkins]   a) Effective (achieves objectives)   b) Inherently safe   c) Simple (avoids unnecessary complication)   d) Reliable   e) Low inventories of hazardous materials   f) Good separation of people from hazards   g) Avoidance of exotic materials   h) Low energy usage   …more

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Attributes of Good Design (6a)   Facilities or plant where process is carried out [Atkins]

  i) Easy to operate   j) Easy to monitor corrosion or other deterioration   k) Easy to maintain   l) Simple and safe to construct   m) Low cost   n) Robust to human error   o) High utilisation of proven components/modules, controlled use of

unproven components/modules   p) Efficient in use of space/land area

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Attributes of Good Design (7)   Management Systems to maintain and operate facilities [Atkins]   a) Effective (achieves objectives)   b) Simple and readily understood   c) Robust to human error   d) Efficient in use of people   e) Effective in identifying error and non-conformance   f) Effective in identifying and managing interfaces   g) Includes systems for monitoring performance and generating

improvements   h) Easy to communicate   i) Include incentives to good performance   j) Robust to unintended consequences

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Assignment

  Discover some good designs   Be prepared to talk about why they are good*.

*And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good... Need we ask anyone to tell us these things? [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]

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Title

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