Jul 13, 2009
Autodesk’s Digital Dreams (BusinessWeek, 2008)
Autodesk’s Digital Dreams (BusinessWeek, 2008)
Importance of Iteration
If you can experience what you are planning to build, then the additional information that you have will allow you to make different decisions, save money, make a better product and serve customers better.
The information gained in the design process is related to the degree of iteration possible.
As soon as anything is finished, you usually say ‘oops, I would have done that differently’ – “we’re trying to make it less expensive to say oops”
Digital prototyping replaces physical prototyping, but moves into more dimensions – carbon footprint, performance, structure.
Physical prototyping, especially rapid prototyping will still be important but the more that can be done digitally the better.
(relate this to, for example, Teece (dominant design etc)
These tool are changing the questions designers are asking – moving from ‘what does it look like’ to questions of structure/engineering, to, now, questions about sustainability, performance, durability and user experience.
What about collaboration?
Interoperability is critical (design thru engineering thru manufacturing and beyond)
“One of our customers, a major auto manufacturer, went all the way from concept to engineering to manufacturing engineering to making ads.”
These tools can improve time-to-market, allowing as yet unmade products to be rendered and marketed without resorting to expensive prototyping.
Original Text: From http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2008/id20080523_854518.htm