Design does not happen in one step
It is not just an expression – fools really do rush in where angels fear to tread and make a mess of everything they touch. Whether the fools are idealists or ideologues, they believe that a first approximation is enough – that somehow their vision is fully formed and ready for production, and if things get a little dicey – that the tape and bailing wire will hold.
At the other extreme, cautious perfectionists calculate and measure and cogitate and contemplate, but never move at all. Before they commit to anything, the perfectionists work day and night to reach a fully-evolved solution by writing volumes of specifications, constructing elaborate schedules, and running endless meetings where unproven ideas are debated ad nausium.
Design happens somewhere near the middle of these two extremes. When we begin a design there is an element of diving-in. The territory is new. Exploration is required to find the basic lay of the land. Discovery of possibilities must take place before we can weigh them and assign any sort of likelihoods.
Apollo11 Lunar Module 'Eagle' - July 20, 1969
Sometimes a quick approximation reveals a solid possibility and this is can be advantageous because early in the process it tells the designer that the intent is achievable and development can start sooner rather than later. Instead waiting for the value of every last bit of research – an early introduction can also lead to valuable first-hand experience and feedback from actual users – which then leads to an even better product as research and experience are more quickly incorporated into every subsequent model.
More often, companies take a more middle-ground approach with considerable upfront work before their product meets the marketplace.
Yet, whether somewhat quick or more deliberate, high-quality design requires a process of ongoing improvement.
Hagel gives a name to the basic philosophy underpinning this process – ‘The Dialectic.‘ An idea comes into acceptance, practical experience comes along to challenge it, and if sufficiently worthwhile, a new (and hopefully better) idea is synthesized from the two. The new idea is not merely an amalgamation. Rather, the synthesis is fully established as a new state of the art and the beginning point for the next round of improvements.
An extreme case in point…
In the 1960s during the development of the American Apollo lunar landing module more than one million documented design changes were made – screws, bolts, shock absorbing materials, hand-rail mounts, sunlight shielding, fuel tanks, navigation systems, propulsion, landing radar, communications – everything in the machine was designed and re-designed and re-designed again. In fact, at several points along the way the basic concept was almost entirely scrapped and reworked from the ground up in order to meet the requirements of its mission. At the time, the lander was the most technically sophisticated machine ever assembled, and without change and evolution, it was not going fly.
Lunar Module Interior
Just in time for its first shakedown mission on Apollo 9 the lunar module design was finished enough for an initial Earth orbiting test flight. Eventually eight versions flew in space with almost no equipment failures of any kind. Yet no two were exactly the same, with each new model offering increased capability.
Whether a lunar module or a toaster oven, design can not happen in just one step. Good ideas turn into the best designs only after considerable rethinking and reshaping and redevelopment. Like writing and re-writing and editing a great novel, the process is one of working and reworking an idea until you get it right and then improving it from there.
Ken Ramsley
