| Posted by Ken Ramsley , Aug 30,1999,11:21 | Post Reply | Forum |
The design process endeavors to construct a theoretical model - these days usually kept as a computer database. Some people might argue that the design process also includes the creation of construction specifications - drawings, assembly procedures and testing requirements. But I don't agree.
Design, as Plato discusses, is something that happens in a world of ideals. Here, the model can be theoretically perfect. But in the tangible world, nothing is perfect. The construction project will always deviate from the model, since nothing can be fabricated exactly.
When I design a printed circuit board, the design process involves assimilating the circuit information, placing the parts and connecting the wires. This all happens in a database within a computer. Once the model has been constructed and verified, I go through an entirely different process to produce an information package needed to fabricate the PC boards themselves. In the end, the finished boards are very close to the design model, but are not exactly the same.
Although the deviation from ideal may be insignificant, a design and what gets made from the design are never the same things exactly.
Ken Ramsley