Cover image for The design of design : essays from a computer scientist
Title:
The design of design : essays from a computer scientist
Publication Information:
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Addison-Wesley, c2010
Physical Description:
xv, 421 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9780201362985

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30000010267225 TA174 B764 2010 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

Making Sensenbsp;of Design

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Author Notes

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).


Reviews 1

Choice Review

Experience is one of Brooks's greatest virtues. Brooks (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) has been exposed to a wide variety of design projects over the years and has developed a tremendous amount of insight, which he conveys in this essay collection. This work is a follow-up to The Mythical Man-Month (CH, May'96, 33-5142), a quite popular tome within the computer science community, but it stands up well on its own and will interest a wider audience. Brooks frequently skips back and forth between examples from his career at IBM to those based on designing a corporate beach house. By utilizing these two differing examples, he shows that many concepts are universal to all design projects; readers seeking more detail on computer science projects may be disappointed. The text begins with a discussion of how design toward the rational model as often captured in the waterfall process is not feasible to many projects, and then discusses the alternative spiral model. Next, the book addresses design and collaboration. One of the most insightful but least technical sections follows; it focuses on aspects such as empiricism versus rationalism, qualities of design, the benefits of constraints, and more. Includes numerous case studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students through professionals/practitioners interested in design. R. S. Stansbury Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University


Table of Contents

I Models of Designing
1 The Design Question
2 How Engineers Think of Design-The Rational Model
3 What's Wrong with This Model?
4 Requirements, Sin, and Contracts
5 What Are Better Design Process Models?
II Collaboration and Telecollaboration
6 Collaboration
7 Telecollaboration
III Design Aspects
8 User Models-Better Wrong than Vague
9 The Budgeted Resource
10 Constraints are Friends
11 Rationalism vs. Empiricism in Design
12 Esthetics and Style in Technical Design
13 The Role of Exemplars
14 How Expert Designers Go Wrong
15 The Divorced Designer
16 Design Rationale Tools
17 Rationales and Rationalizing
IV A Dream System for the Design of Houses
18 Dream System-Mind to Machine
19 Dream System-Machine to Mind
V Great Designers
20 Great Designs Come From Great Designers
21 Where Do Great Designers Come From?
VI Trips Through Design Spaces: Case Studies
22 Case Study: Beach House Design Rationale
23 Case Study: Kitchen Remodeling
24 Case Study: House Wing
25 Case Study: System/360 Architecture
26 Case Study: Operating System/360
27 Case Study: Joint Comp. Center Organization
End Matter
Recommended Reading
Bibliography