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Member's Forum The Technical Side of Creativity
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  • bbc
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Related

The Technical Side of Creativity

spannerspencer
spannerspencer over 9 years ago

I was just reading the interview that jlucas did recently with the BBC's Connected Studio, and there was one bit in particular that really stuck out for me:

 

"Traditionally [‘creatives’] were seen as people who came up with ideas while technologists had a more enabling role, and in some cases this still persists. But more and more we are seeing creatives with a much greater understanding of technical possibilities, and innovative technologists who have the skills to create the experiences as well as deliver them."

 

That's a really interesting point that I thought resonated very strongly with what we see here on the Community. Design Challenges in particular. With those, we're effectively tasking engineers and technical people with putting together something that has more of a creative angle than a technological one. I mean, it usually has both, but it really highlights how the lines between tech and creativity (dare we say art, even?) are becoming so blurred.

 

It's a good thing, of course, but it made me wonder how important the creative angle is to you guys? Do you prefer projects that are purely practical, or do you go for more creative elements when building something new?

 

Or maybe we look at it like this: How important is the creative, or artistic component of your functional, practical projects? Do you put much effort into how the finished product looks, or does it only matter that it performs well?

 

When you stop and think about it this way, it really makes you consider how there's a distinct artistry to the projects we see on here.

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  • Dudley
    Dudley over 9 years ago +1
    In software engineering, there has always been a strong creative element. A good example of this is in user interface, creating a good UI is often a lot more creative than it is logical. There was an essay…
  • Dudley
    Dudley over 9 years ago

    In software engineering, there has always been a strong creative element. A good example of this is in user interface, creating a good UI is often a lot more creative than it is logical.

     

    There was an essay that went around in 2003 that said it far better than I ever could.

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  • DAB
    DAB over 9 years ago

    I have found creativity to be a delicate option in systems engineering.

     

    In most projects, you have a limited time to "Brain Storm" the requirements before you have to decide on the design.

     

    After the decisions are made, all "Bright" ideas need to be documented and controlled.  If there is enough interests, then a change request can be introduced to discuss the idea, but remember, NO CHANGE IS FREE!

     

    I have never been on a project where I did not see better ways to do it after we got the basic system to work.

     

    That is why I always did incremental build and test.  It did create an ability to implement a better idea as part of the natural evolution of the final system.

     

    If you do not control this process it can lead to a dead system and an angry customer.  So care is needed.

     

    Just because an idea is really cool, does not mean that it is as easy to implement as it might seem at first.

     

     

    DAB

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  • dougw
    dougw over 9 years ago

    Building-to-print can be rewarding, but for me the creative aspect of design is orders of magnitude more enjoyable. As engineers, our designs are always building on technology developed by others, but there is still infinite room for innovation and creativity. If this was not the case, I would likely not be working in this field and certainly would not be doing it as a hobby.

    element14 is well structured to encourage small flashes of creative design and I really like that aspect, but it has to be too open to make it likely that significant innovative breakthroughs would be published here first.

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  • tonyboubady
    tonyboubady over 9 years ago

    To put simply in one line...My projects should work beautifully...

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