Fred Brooks interviewed

Kevin Kelly has a short Wired interview with Fred Brooks, author of the essential Mythical Man-Month and the new The Design of Design.

• books
• design
• Fred Brooks
• interviews
• Kevin Kelly
• The Design of Design

The Design of Design

Now this is interesting…Fred Brooks, author of The Mythical Man-Month (which should be subtitled “If You Make Software As Part of a Team You Should Read This Book Immediately Like Now What Are You Waiting For Dummy?”) has a new book out called The Design 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 costruction to IBM’s Operating System/360. Throughout, Brooks reveals keys to success that every designer, design project manager, and design researcher should know.

• design
• Fred Brooks
• The Design of Design