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Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

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Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#21

Post by est »

Spearchucker wrote: post #6

This framework is good. And like the other frameworks in other comments here, it's a good enough start in a small company, start up, or small department within a larger organisation. A better framework might be cobbled together from various disciplines. For instance, "Understand". This part is huge. Well, bigger than those three questions the author lists. "Understanding" begins by stepping back to look at the enviro…

IMHO the "understanding" part belongs to the "skills".

Social skills, communication skills is just as important as solving practical problems. This skill can be trained and often underrated.

Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#22

Post by est »

Geee wrote: post #14

Yeah, usually the hardest problem is to define the problem, or even know that there exists a problem that could be solved. Once you have discovered, understood and defined your problem, solving it becomes easy.

That's why "vision" is important.

I've seen too many companies tries to be the "next Apple" or "Next Google". I mean come on that's not a vision. Google's vision was to organize human knowledge. That's a god damn good one.

Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#23

Post by Aegaeus10111 »

This is an adaptation of Design Thinking which designers have used for years. It's found in Human centered Design, Design Sprints, Jobs To Be Done... and others.

I've seen lots of projects fail, cost way over budget, take years longer than projected (personal recorded: I paid a developer to write me - his estimate - a 6 week project. 8 years later he returned my money), and/or completely miss the target because Dev jumps right in and starts coding - not being concerned with the "soft" stuff like business, usability, experience design, etc...

If this helps dev teams join the holistic effort to success, I'm all for it. I entirely agree that coders need to be problem solvers but also solvers of relevant problems.

Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#24

Post by dominicr »

shay_ker wrote: post #7

Is... is this waterfall?

Not if you call the understanding and design processes a "design sprint"!

As someone else said, the individual phases can be huge, which is why in large projects the first step is often to break down large business needs into more manageable chunks, each of which can be worked on seperately, either linelarly or by multiple teams. In a healthy process as the work progresses it is used to reevaluate previous decisons & designs. So basically agile.

Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#25

Post by dominicr »

Spearchucker wrote: post #6

This framework is good. And like the other frameworks in other comments here, it's a good enough start in a small company, start up, or small department within a larger organisation. A better framework might be cobbled together from various disciplines. For instance, "Understand". This part is huge. Well, bigger than those three questions the author lists. "Understanding" begins by stepping back to look at the enviro…

I think you've just nicely summarised why architects & project managers exist! There's a whole level of treacle to get through before coding can start, and that stays with the project throughout its lifespan.

The challenge I see most is getting the right level of understanding and design freedom to the developer level, where they know why they're being asked to do some work but without burdening them with extraneous detail or processes.

A lot of developers get annoyed at project managers and architects but they dislike project politics even more.

Re: Understand, Design, Build: A Framework for Problem-Solving

#26

Post by Spearchucker »

dominicr wrote: post #25
Spearchucker wrote: post #6

This framework is good. And like the other frameworks in other comments here, it's a good enough start in a small company, start up, or small department within a larger organisation. A better framework might be cobbled together from various disciplines. For instance, "Understand". This part is huge. Well, bigger than those three questions the author lists. "Understanding" begins by stepping back to look at the enviro…

I think you've just nicely summarised why architects & project managers exist! There's a whole level of treacle to get through before coding can start, and that stays with the project throughout its lifespan. The challenge I see most is getting the right level of understanding and design freedom to the developer level, where they know why they're being asked to do some work but without burdening them with extraneous…

"A lot of developers get annoyed at project managers and architects..."

If a PM or architect is annoying developers then there's a very big problem with the PM or architect. Like any profession you get good and bad apples. It's why anonymous feedback from people who manage you and whom you manage is so useful. Of course ego is prevalent the higher up the chain you go so this is something many organizations won't do.

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