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Philosophies and Practices of the Design Process

 
“There are three great sources of help to the designer. The first is practice, what has
been done already, in living organisms, or most often by other designers. The second is
principles, of design, derived by reflection or by abstraction from a wide knowledge of
practice or both. The last is the philosophy of design, which manifests itself as a single
strong thread of sometimes rather abstract reasoning running through certain designs,
usually having an apparent inevitability. It is rare, but perhaps should be more common;
certainly, it is difficult to explain, even with examples, but can be recognized.” “Invention
and Evolution, Design in Nature and Engineering,” by Michael French.1
The title “Working on the Boundaries” is borrowed from a Harvard business journal citing the
complex interfaces managers must face in our current culture, in not only dealing with international bound—
aries, but also with organizational boundaries and delegations. And so is the design process complex! The
design process interactions are seemingly endless: systems, subsystems, disciplines, techniques, tools,
facilities, training, etc. Their interfaces are compounded through a hierarchy of organizations, leadership,
specialists, customers, schedules, financing, etc.2 3
It is recognized that each of these interfaces has been bounteously discussed and reported sepa-
rately and in combinations by numerous and excellent authors in a variety of industries and institutions.
However, this document is a result of special requests from several members of the aerospace community
for an overview of all major interaction and interface fundamentals experienced in the design process of
some of the largest aerospace projects.
The design process is a blend of classical procedures and evolving philosophical principles and
practices in the ever—changing and challenging environments of customer expectations, new technologies,
and constraining economics. An engineering product builds on those consistent and proven practices and
philosophies selected in the design process. This report endeavors to identify and illuminate a few recur-
ring design process principles published, experienced, and observed that lead to successful aerospace
products.