The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist

The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist

by Jr. - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Frederick P. Brooks
Released March 2010
Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: None

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Book description

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.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. Preface
  6. I. Models of Designing
    1. 1. The Design Question
    2. 2. How Engineers Think of Design—The Rational Model
    3. 3. What’s Wrong with This Model?
    4. 4. Requirements, Sin, and Contracts
    5. 5. What Are Better Design Process Models?
  7. II. Collaboration and Telecollaboration
    1. 6. Collaboration in Design
    2. 7. Telecollaboration
  8. III. Design Perspectives
    1. 8. Rationalism versus Empiricism in Design
    2. 9. User Models—Better Wrong than Vague
    3. 10. Inches, Ounces, Bits, Dollars—The Budgeted Resource
    4. 11. Constraints Are Friends
    5. 12. Esthetics and Style in Technical Design
    6. 13. Exemplars in Design
    7. 14. How Expert Designers Go Wrong
    8. 15. The Divorce of Design
    9. 16. Representing Designs’ Trajectories and Rationales
  9. IV. A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses
    1. 17. A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses—Mind to Machine
    2. 18. A Computer Scientist’s Dream System for Designing Houses—Machine to Mind
  10. V. Great Designers
    1. 19. Great Designs Come from Great Designers
    2. 20. Where Do Great Designers Come From?
  11. VI. Trips through Design Spaces: Case Studies
    1. 21. Case Study: Beach House “View/360”
    2. 22. Case Study: House Wing Addition
    3. 23. Case Study: Kitchen Remodeling
    4. 24. Case Study: System/360 Architecture
    5. 25. Case Study: IBM Operating System/360
    6. 26. Case Study: Book Design of Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution
    7. 27. Case Study: A Joint Computer Center Organization: Triangle Universities Computation Center
    8. 28. Recommended Reading
  12. Acknowledgments
  13. Bibliography
  14. People Index
  15. Subject Index

Product information

  • Title: The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist
  • Author(s): Jr. - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Frederick P. Brooks
  • Release date: March 2010
  • Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
  • ISBN: None