The Design Process - Medical Device Design: Innovation from Concept to Market - page 42

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Figure 3.15
Finding a minimum.
personal computer when a program locks for some inexplicable reason; the most common
reason is that the program is going around and around a single loop with no exit in sight. This
can happen with this model. If not managed correctly, it is perfectly feasible for an idea to be
bounced around between departments with a conclusion never being reached. In mathematics
this is exemplified by a Newton-Raphson 11 search. Figure 3.15 illustrates a graph of a
function; we need to find the lowest point. One way to do this is to pick an arbitrary point and
draw a tangent to the graph. Where this crosses the x-axis is the next point, and so on until the
minimum is found. Figure 3.15 illustrates this when it works. However Figure 3.16 illustrates
the condition when it “gets stuck in a loop.”
This type of loop exists in design, particularly between the design team and the actual
customer. Quite often the design team will come up with a solution, only to be met with the
nightmare scenario “ ah but you've forgotten… .” The design team then changes the solution
to meet this new requirement only to be met with “ well it wasn't that important and it was
better last time .” The solution is changed again and the team members are met with “ well it's
true this is good, but on second thoughts the one before was really good .” This type of loop
happens all of the time; good specifications and good management break the cycle.
11 As you may guess this is the Newton. Legend has it his irst search technique was developed to ind topics in the
university library (before a Dewey system was in place). This is a more advanced approach ( Wikipedia, 2011 ).