A design is only as good as the problem set used to define it

By Ken Goulding posted on Thu, 2009-06-25 09:38 , 241 reads, 0 comments

Good designers take a set of problems and massage their solutions into a cohesive whole.

 

A poorly conceived or constantly changing problem set can jeopardize the flow of the design process. Although a good designer can still pull something together that solves the problems at hand, the design its unlikely to be as elegant as it would be had the problem set been better defined at the outset - or at least in the embyonic stages of the process. Indeed the later new problems are introduced, the more challenging it can be to resolve them through good design.

 

This is where tools like SmartPlan can be extremely valuable. By bringing program information and analysis to the early stages of design, we can bring all players to the table and flesh out a more complete problem set. While this doesn't give us good design by itself, it does set up an environment for good design to flourish.