Art in Design

"I'm a Systems Engineer."

When I say this, most people either glaze over and say, "That's great", or kindly ask, "Really? What does a Systems Engineer do?"

I often have a difficult time answering this question. You see, Systems Engineering is a relatively new discipline, although one might argue that Systems Engineers have been making their presence felt for ages under different names. It is also difficult to answer this question because Systems Engineering is a very broad discipline, influencing many different phases of a system's development and lifecycle.

Like any engineering discipline, Systems Engineers seek to apply rigorous tools and methods to the problems associated with the design and implementation of complex systems. It is most common to find Systems Engineers working in fields associated with information systems.

My particular slice of life is that I am involved in the design and definition of systems. I act as a translator between the customers and users of a system and the teams of engineers and developers who are masters of their particular disciplines. I'm a jack-of-all-trades, who has a special responsibility for the smooth interoperation of the total system -- all of the parts working together to meet the needs of the customer.

Now, remember that a system involves the system materials (hardware and software), the people who use the system, and the processes that they use to accomplish their objectives. Hardware, software, people, and processes. Systems Engineering has a very broad scope. Probably more information than you needed.

As a Systems Engineer, I'm keenly interested in examples of good, elegant, artistic design. One only has to look at the world of architecture to see fabulous examples of artistic systems. Every building is a part of a system that is made up of physical materials (the building), the people who use it, and the processes that they use to inhabit the building and apply it for their purposes.

I hope to use this blog to call attention to examples of beautiful, elegant design. There may also be times when I must point out examples of flawed design. Unfortunately, this is a reality with which every Systems Engineer lives on a daily basis. It is all too easy to drift into bad design, and it requires rigorous discipline and a "feel" for good design to prevent this drift.

The goal of this blog is to help to develop a feel for good design, and to learn from bad design.