The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist 1st Edition

by Frederick P. Brooks Jr. (Author)

38 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0201362985

ISBN-10: 0201362988

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Making Sense 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 construction to IBM's Operating System/360. Throughout, Brooks reveals keys to success that every designer, design project manager, and design researcher should know.

The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist

$30.28 FREE Shipping. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Making Sense 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 construction to IBM's Operating System/360. Throughout, Brooks reveals keys to success that every designer, design project manager, and design researcher should know.

About the Author

Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., is Kenan Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology, for his work on IBM’s Operating System/360, and the A. M. Turing Award, for his “landmark contributions to computer architecture, operating systems, and software engineering.” He is the author of the best-selling book The Mythical Man-Month, Anniversary Edition (Addison-Wesley, 1995).

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Product Details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (April 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0201362988
ISBN-13: 978-0201362985
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #306 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Systems Analysis & Design
- #3638 in Books > Textbooks > Engineering
- #4979 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

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Top Customer Reviews

Well Designed!

BySalvatore R. Manganoon April 6, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Brook's new book is a worthy successor to the classic Mythical Man-Month. It starts by discussion of the well known waterfall model of design and why this model remains seductive to this day. It then shows its flaws, pragmatic problems with design in the real world and alternative models. Many readers may be familiar with these issues (as I was ) but Brooks digs into a lot of history that you may not know about.

The next sections talk about design as a collaborative process , different perspectives for thinking about design, visions for designing houses, the role of individual design talent (process can't replace greatness!), and how great designers can be nurtured. This part of the book is superb.

The last section is a series of case studies including buildings, a System/360 (naturally), computer architecture, and the design of a joint research facility. This is the one area where the book could have been improved and the reason I did not give it 5 stars. Understandably, Brooks draws on his own experience in picking cases studies but I personally would have liked a bunch of cases studies of application software. I imagine most designers who read this book will be software developers and few will be involved in OS design or design of physical structures. Brooks would argue that there are universal ideas that really make design transcend particular design domains, and in that sense the cases studies he provides are certainly useful. However, it is always easier to learn form a case study that is close to what you actually do yourself.

Overall, Brook's writing style is excellent, entertaining and thoroughly researched so you will not be disappointed.

0Comment 67 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Essential reading for 21st century thinkers and doers

ByMichael Tiemannon June 6, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

In 1989 I started a new kind of software company, and considering that I had no financial, business, nor management experience, things went fairly well. Indeed, we doubled revenue every year for the first five years and grew from 3 people to more than 60. Somewhere along the line we hit our first real management crisis, and I was given the assignment to read The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition (2nd Edition) as a first step in understanding why our scheduling and deliverables process had become so protracted and precarious.

It was an eye opener, and it gave me my first real understanding of the fundamental limits of the industrial model. (Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals was the second, and perhaps even more profound.) Thus, when I discovered that Brooks had written a new book to treat one of my favorite new topics--Design--I decided to order it right away. Then, while it was sitting in my shopping cart, I read through some of the comments, and though several of them spread doubt about the quality or validity of this latest effort, I decided that I would risk the purchase. And I am glad I did.

I recently gave a four star review to another book on the topic of design: Roger Martin's latest book The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage. I felt bad about doing so because there is so much to like about that book and so much I appreciate about Martin's teachings. But the book did not strike me as one the best possible treatment of the subject, so I gave it only four stars. By that measure, I'm giving The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist a full five-star rating because I believe he has met that criteria. His writing is economical, elegant, accessible, and authoritative. His stance is earnest and authentic. His examples are relevant and essential. And his topic is absolutely vital to the proper construction of our 21st century economy.

This is a book I will have to buy in bulk, and to give to the many people I meet in my daily work who need the conceptual reboot that it provides. I recommend it to anyone who needs or produces creative work in these early days of the 21st century, whether in the public, private, or academic sectors.

11 comment 47 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

An important book on the foundations of IT design

ByMark P. McDonaldVINE VOICEon April 23, 2010

Format: Paperback

There are few people who can be described as part of the foundation of modern business computing technology and IT management. Fred Brooks is one of them. His book "The Mythical Man Month" (MMM) is one of the seminal works on IT management. Now he follows that book up with "The Design of Design." Like MMM this book is a collection of essays and thoughts from someone who has been thinking and working on the deep systems behind information technology. This book is thought provoking, informative and makes a contribution to our understanding of IT and the nature of design.

A word of caution however, this book, like MMM is not for the casual reader. People who are looking for a book similar to the other `sliver bullet' books about tech will be sorely disappointed because there is no silver bullet. Brooks told us that in the MMM. However, serious students of the evolution of design and IT management however will find much in this book to debate, disagree and discussion.

Overall the 20 essays and 7 case studies provide an in-depth view on Brook's thinking and experience concerning design. Brook's approach tends toward a more academic treatment of these issues than other more solution oriented books. A strength of these essays is their ability to go back to the founding ideas and principles based on Brook's study or often first hand knowledge of the pioneers in IT.

Two disclosures here. First I wrote my dissertation about the design of enterprises, so I am very interested in the topic and found the book enjoyable. Second, a while ago I was leading a class about IT for some MBA students and I added MMM to the reading list. Unfortunately it did not work, as the MBA students did not have a grounding or appreciation of the ideas in MMM. I am afraid the same can be said of the Design of Design as it provides a comprehensive and thoughtful look at a complex subject that may be too much for the casual reader or someone with casual interest.

The Design of Design is a fitting compliment to MMM and should be among the reading list of those people seriously looking at the fundamental processes and management of IT. This book is recommended for people who have the interest and passion to think through Brook's thoughts, ideas and advice.

22 comments 35 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Old-ish insights in a new book

I, as probably many others, was looking forward reading "the design of design." I had pre-ordered it as soon as I knew I could and read it soon after it arrived.Read more

Published on May 10, 2010 by Bas Vodde

What's good in this is great

Brooks gained wide fame for his 1975 book The Mythical Man-Month. That one book contains clearer expression of so much that goes so wrong in software development than any eight...Read more

Published on April 20, 2013 by wiredweird

I LOVED it!

I have just finished reading Fred Brooks's new book, _The Design of
Design_. I LOVED it.

I will be recommending that we adopt it as a text book in our...Read more

Published on June 8, 2011 by Daniel Berry

as some of you know

As some of you know, I rarely read business books, personally finding most of them collections of platitudinous clichés or the rehash of tired old war stories.Read more

Published on September 21, 2010 by Alexander T. Gafford

A cohesive look at design

As a UI Designer in the video games industry, this book helped me draw many parallels between our relatively young field and it's more mature parent in traditional software...Read more

Published on March 5, 2011 by Sergey Trubetskoy

Definitely not required reading for all designers but a pleasant and useful one for some of them nevertheless

For some people there comes a time when they have spent more than five decades in their career and they can have a deep look at various projects they have accomplished, and talk...Read more

Published on September 25, 2013 by Emre Sevinc

if you love computing this is abook to cherish

The author of the Mythical Man-Month, the Father of the IBM 360 hardware and software, Brooks is a giant.Read more

Published on May 31, 2010 by Reg Nordman

A Great Book on Design Theory

Prof. Brooks book is enjoyable and easy to read. To the many academics that I have spoke to his book is of no value - because, it says nothing new. They are right about that.Read more

Published on April 9, 2011 by Sivam Krish

Nice book, but not very practical

Brooks is a distinguished person and listening to him often pays off. But don't expect to learn any specific technique from this book.Read more

Published on March 15, 2012 by Alexey I. Smirnov

Great book on the design and the design process

In this book Brooks talk about the concept of design and the design process.

Although there is plenty literature on these subject Brooks feels there are several good...Read more

Published on April 12, 2010 by Hector Correa

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