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Member's Forum The Technical Side of Creativity
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The Technical Side of Creativity

spannerspencer
spannerspencer over 10 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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  • DAB
    DAB over 10 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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  • DAB
    DAB over 10 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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