System Design & Technical Decision Making

The desired outcomes of a system (the behaviors, functions, capabilities, and properties) should be the primary influence on the system design. Our design process, and therefore our decision-making process, must support the flow of influence from discovery and characterization of desired outcomes, through design and build, to delivery.

The behaviors, functions, capabilities, and properties of a system are not the sum of the parts. They are not the sum of the behaviors, functions, capabilities, and properties of the parts. They are the product of the interactions of the parts.

To design the product of the interactions of the parts can be thought of, rather strangely, as designing what is not there, the space around and between (but not inside) the parts. This space is defined by the boundaries of the parts, their roles and responsibilities, their interfaces, and their interaction patterns.

The design-decision process must treat that set of decisions (the boundaries of the parts, their roles and responsibilities, their interfaces, and their interaction patterns) as a coherent set of decisions that must be made with regard to each other. They are the interdependent set of decisions that produce the system.

The talk will explore what this perspective means for our design process, team structures, decision-making authority, and required technical and interpersonal skill sets.