Meta, Reference
Reference resources are expected to be accessed repeatedly. Therefore direct text works better than a PDF.
Think Time
- think-time modeling (structured thinking about why and how mental work takes time)
- intent
- checklist
- schedule
- today goals
- timestamping (pre-task/post-task)
- goal/task time estimation
- focus timeblock
- durable progress (value that is hard to lose/destroy; ex. well-stored toilet paper)
- if blocked, change task, return later
- if uncertain, prefer adaptable paths
Design
- goal abstraction (ex. going to the grocery store, going to get food, preparing food to eat now/later, preparing to live, living to feel/be good)
- goal specification (ex. in this application, low-noise means under 50dB)
- goal decomposition (ex. low-noise means both low dB and smooth sound-type)
- relevant factor list (ex. safety, reliability, performance)
- needs vs wants
- feature list
- application list (normal cases, edge cases)
- ideal and real possibilities (consider a design space without constraints, comparing to one with today-constraints) (this is a spectrum space, not black-white space)
- practical ideas/options list (design elements and categories) (a complete list offers brute-force process of elimination)
- element combination (ex. multi-material design)
- element division (ex. latch can divide into latch-frame, latch-lock, latch-interface, etc.)
- minimum functional design (material, complexity, data)
- single factor optimization
- min-max analysis (of specific value) (task scope or design scope)
- stack analysis (for sequential design layers) (abstract or concrete)
- option tree (trunk/branch)
- functional substitutes (what alternative functions/design-elements can somewhat replace this function?)
- functional absence (what happens to the design/operation of the system without this function?)
- user experience vs world state-changes (some changes are experienced not by intended users; instead by bystanders, other entities, and the rest of the universe) (world state-changes often indirectly affect the user experience)
- second-to-second UX simulation (small time-segment focus)
- A-Z UX simulation (step-completeness focus)
- lifetime simulation ("cradle-to-grave"; development and production and distribution to operation and maintenance and recycling)
- present-to-future simulation (reality-dynamics focus)
- application environment simulation
- constraint walk-forward (add modern constraints one-by-one into an empty design-space)
- constraint walk-back (remove constraints one-by-one from a draft in the design-space)
- first principles modeling (fundamental interactive laws)
- basic elements modeling (fundamental elements for desired function)
- false tradeoffs
- breakable assumptions/premises
- design path completion (do this for full-draft exploration/context; avoid tunnel-vision and first-idea only-idea bias)
Evaluation
- current-reality research (ex. existing products)
- peer review
- guiding document research
- history research (ex. past intergenerational upgrade logic)
- experimental learning vs thoughtful learning (spectrum idea) (consider which is better for a specific situation, problem, current skillset) (ex. better to spend 1 hour thinking of problems and solutions than 10 hours building the same problems and solutions) (ex. better to spend 1 hour building problems and solutions than 10 hours thinking the same problems and solutions)
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