PRECISION

A goal of science is to increase precision.  The goal of design should be the same.

Both science and design endeavor to understand the world.  And we increase this understanding by increasing precision.  To the scientist, this means ever more precise observations via experiments.  The designer’s task is to increase our understanding by holistic and complete drawings.

As we have established, scientific paradigms and design paradigms are equal.  See THE ELECTROMAGNET AND THE GREEK REVIVAL, for instance.

One of the reasons that scientists all work on the same experiment is to increase the precision of their understanding of the world.  For example, when the method to detect gravity waves became practical, scientists set up gravity wave observatories around the world.  Each of these observatories, or LIGOs, had a fundamental goal of increasing the precision of gravity wave detection.  Each of these multi-million dollar facilities was doing the same thing;  detecting gravity waves that arise from black holes.  And all of the scientists working in each of these LIGOs were striving to increase the precision of their measurements.

Design needs to do the same thing.  We need to be continually striving to increase our specific understanding of the world.  This really is the only trajectory that design can take.  There is no question that we can continue to generate new forms and shapes for eternity.

But just like the scientists, the true test of our worth is the precision that we bring to the new forms and shapes that we generate.  If we want design to gain cultural traction, to gain cultural weight, it will be thru precision.   This will occur thru close scrutiny of our work.  This scrutiny needs to be applied to our own work as well as the work of others.  It will require that we continually challenge ourselves to continued refinement.  This will require that we continually revise our observational techniques.

I will be crass and say if we want to get paid more and if we want the budgets of our projects increased, we need to increase the precision of our efforts.

And quite simply, Transparent Drawing is a very modest movement in this direction.  A Transparent Drawing precisely increases our understanding of our designs and the designs of others.

It is fun to try to imagine what other means there are to increase the precision of the work that we do.  We have suggested in these pages that we can increase our understanding of the designer and client interface, see YOUR CLIENT’S BRAIN.  We have suggested that we can increase the precision of our work by employing a client’s sense of risk, see DESIGN RISK COEFICIENT.

If we put precision first and foremost, we can’t help but increase the relevance, and value, of what we love to do.