Design of Design, The: Essays from a Computer Scientist / Edition 1

by Frederick Brooks Jr., John Fuller

Overview

Making Sense of Design

Effective design is at the heart of everything from software development to engineering to architecture. But what do we really know about the design process? What leads to effective, elegant designs? The Design of Design addresses these questions.

These new essays by Fred Brooks contain extraordinary insights for designers in every discipline. Brooks pinpoints constants inherent in all design projects and uncovers processes and patterns likely to lead to excellence. Drawing on conversations with dozens of exceptional designers, as well as his own experiences in several design domains, Brooks observes that bold design decisions lead to better outcomes.

The author tracks the evolution of the design process, treats collaborative and distributed design, and illuminates what makes a truly great designer. He examines the nuts and bolts of design processes, including budget constraints of many kinds, aesthetics, design empiricism, and tools, and grounds this discussion in his own real-world examples—case studies ranging from home construction to IBM’s Operating System/360. Throughout, Brooks reveals keys to success that every designer, design project manager, and design researcher should know.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780201362985
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	03/22/2010
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., is Kenan Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology, for his work on IBM’s Operating System/360, and the A. M. Turing Award, for his “landmark contributions to computer architecture, operating systems, and software engineering.” He is the author of the best-selling book The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition (Addison-Wesley, 1995).

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I: Models of Designing 1

Chapter 1: The Design Question 3

Chapter 2: How Engineers Think of Design–The Rational Model 13

Chapter 3: What’s Wrong with This Model? 21

Chapter 4: Requirements, Sin, and Contracts 39

Chapter 5: What Are Better Design Process Models? 51

Part II: Collaboration and Telecollaboration 61

Chapter 6: Collaboration in Design 63

Chapter 7: Telecollaboration 89

Part III: Design Perspectives 103

Chapter 8: Rationalism versus Empiricism in Design 105

Chapter 9: User Models–Better Wrong than Vague 113

Chapter 10: Inches, Ounces, Bits, Dollars–The Budgeted Resource 119

Chapter 11: Constraints Are Friends 127

Chapter 12: Esthetics and Style in Technical Design 139

Chapter 13: Exemplars in Design 153

Chapter 14: How Expert Designers Go Wrong 167

Chapter 15: The Divorce of Design 175

Chapter 16: Representing Designs’ Trajectories and Rationales 185

Part IV: A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses 201

Chapter 17: A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses–Mind to Machine 203

Chapter 18: A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses–Machine to Mind 219

Part V: Great Designers 229

Chapter 19: Great Designs Come from Great Designers 231

Chapter 20: Where Do Great Designers Come From? 243

Part VI: Trips through Design Spaces: Case Studies 257

Chapter 21: Case Study: Beach House “View/360” 259

Chapter 22: Case Study: House Wing Addition 279

Chapter 23: Case Study: Kitchen Remodeling 297

Chapter 24: Case Study: System/360 Architecture 313

Chapter 25: Case Study: IBM Operating System/360 331

Chapter 26: Case Study: Book Design of Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution 347

Chapter 27: Case Study: A Joint Computer Center Organization: Triangle Universities Computation Center 355

Chapter 28: Recommended Reading 367

Acknowledgments 371

Bibliography 375

People Index 393

Subject Index 401