Finding design flaws before the end

Sooner or later every smoker will stop, the question is when. The same goes for design flaws—sooner or later everyone can spot them, the question is when.

This morning a colleague said project leaders can be divided into two types of people: those who can spot AND correct flaws upon first exposure, and those who can’t. By the end of a project it seems that everyone has the talent to spot flaws in design.  However, with such tuned perception – how do any design flaws get in at all?

This is a general problem we have seen using participatory approaches to product design.  The majority of people, while in the act of designing, will be blind to gigantic flaws in the product concept or design. Six months later, when the finished system is running on their desktops they suddenly become critics, able to easily spot and comment on the smallest flaw in the system.

A true designer, though, has two talents: First, they are able to spot design flaws when they are first exposed to them. Second, they fix them.  A good designer will not allow flaws to go unaddressed.

When we are looking for people to promote into our elite Tiers, this is one of the aptitudes we screen for.  Are you the type of person who can spot a design flaw from 1000 yards in a dense fog, before the system is finished, and will you fix it?  When the answer is ‘yes’ there is a good chance you will move up quickly.

While we regard that as an ‘elite’ skill, I actually think it something everyone can do – or at least do better at.  A person’s aptitude and talents certainly have a lot to do with it, but I think most people could benefit from increased effort in noticing flaws early and correcting them.

The industry has long talked about the importance of finding defects early in the lifecycle. Sadly, most advice seems to focus on process. The idea is that if we use reviews and inspections as gates that somehow we will see and correct flaws. That works to an extent but it isn’t very cost effective. It is much more efficient to have people on a team who notice and correct flaws.  You can’t write that into a process…