What is a good design?

spec · Feb 5, 2017

Little Ghostman said:
Good question Specs. Shouldnt you strive to give them what they need though? Which may be different to what they ask for, or what they want....

As I said it is a bit more complicated, and in military contracts it is written in stone that you should raise any issues and highlight any areas where where improvements can be made. In most cases if you just give the customer what he asks for it would cause probvlems. You get situations like:
(1) Input power: 12 V at 10A maximum.

Then somewhere else in the requirement specification you may get,
(2.2.3.4.6b) Output power 200W minimum at 212 MHz

And just before World War Two, if Supermarine had complied with the government requirement specification, there would have been no Spitfire but a much lesser aircraft.

Also when the chickens come home to roost and the project fails you can't say, "Well that is what you asked for!"

spec

large_ghostman · Feb 5, 2017

spec said:
Also when the chickens come home to roost and the project fails you cant say, "Well that is what you asked for!"

spec

Nah save that for erm certain elections

spec · Feb 5, 2017

Little Ghostman said:
Nah save that for erm certain elections

It applies, implicitly or explicitly and in law, to all contracts, not just in electronics.

What I am getting at is that, rather than giving the customer exactly what he asks for, and in many cases that is impossible, you should aim to keep the customer happy.

Like I said, if the customer asks for a system that will not work and you deliver just that, you will not only get into big trouble but also you will never get a contract again from that customer. In fact you will not have a job for long either.

spec

spec · Feb 5, 2017

Here is an example on a very minor retail scale.

I have had various problems with the cooling fans on our car and on a long trip the engine overheated on a hot day while stuck in a traffic jam.

So, I took the car to a garage and asked the boss to replace both fans, all three fan control relays and also replace the fan wiring loom and anything else associated with the fans.

The next day I got a phone call and went to see the garage boss. He said that if they did what I asked for the bill would be around £1,000UK, the fans alone costing £315UK each. He said what we have done is disassemble the fans and fitted new after-market motors, replaced all three relays with new relays and thoroughly inspected all wiring associated with the fans. We did find one wire that was suspect, but rather than fitting a new wiring loom which would have been expensive in parts and labor, we removed the suspect wire and made up a new wire which was threaded back into the old wiring loom. Total cost £115UK including 20% tax.

He said if you are not happy with what we have done, there will be no problem, we can do what you originally asked for, but the car will be off the road for about two weeks waiting for parts.

Had he done what I asked for: no

Was I happy: definitely.

Oh! and the car has been fine since.

large_ghostman · Feb 12, 2017

spec said:
Here is an example on a very minor retail scale.

I have had various problems with the cooling fans on our car and on a long trip the engine overheated on a hot day while stuck in a traffic jam.

So, I took the car to a garage and asked the boss to replace both fans, all three fan control relays and also replace the fan wiring loom and anything else associated with the fans.

The next day I got a phone call and went to see the garage boss. He said that if they did what I asked for the bill would be around £1,000UK, the fans alone costing £315UK each. He said what we have done is disassemble the fans and fitted new after-market motors, replaced all three relays with new relays and thoroughly inspected all wiring associated with the fans. We did find one wire that was suspect, but rather than fitting a new wiring loom which would have been expensive in parts and labor, we removed the suspect wire and made up a new wire which was threaded back into the old wiring loom. Total cost £115UK including 20% tax.

He said if you are not happy with what we have done, there will be no problem, we can do what you originally asked for, but the car will be off the road for about two weeks waiting for parts.

Had he done what I asked for: no

Was I happy: definitely.

Oh! and the car has been fine since.

You let someone else fit a wire to your car??? Best you woulnt let them mess with the speakers ;_

spec · Feb 12, 2017

Little Ghostman said:
You let someone else fit a wire to your car??? Best you woulnt let them mess with the speakers ;_

I see you are on the early morning watch LG, like me.

I would have enjoyed sorting the fans, relays and wiring myself, but there is a snag. Before you can get at anything you have to remove the bumper- special tools required. Before you can remove the bumper you have to remove the headlamps and fog light wiring.

Before you can remove the wiring you have to disconnect the battery.

Once you disconnect the battery the radio and alarm need to be reprogrammed.

To reprogram the alarm requires some special equipment...

As it was, I just dumped the car at the garage and was free to do more important things.

spec

JoeJester · Feb 13, 2017

spec said:
As it was, I just dumped the car at the garage and was free to do more important things.

Yeah ... earn some money to offset the "new" expense you acquired. But, on the bright side, you've kept a countryman, probably more than one, employed earning a wage, and all will pay it forward towards the Britian's economy.

large_ghostman · Feb 13, 2017

spec said:
I see you are on the early morning watch LG, like me.

I would have enjoyed sorting the fans, relays and wiring myself, but there is a snag. Before you can get at anything you have to remove the bumper- special tools required. Before you can remove the bumper you have to remove the headlamps and fog light wiring.

Before you can remove the wiring you have to disconnect the battery.

Once you disconnect the battery the radio and alarm need to be reprogrammed.

To reprogram the alarm requires some special equipment...

As it was, I just dumped the car at the garage and was free to do more important things.

spec

I still maintain they wouldnt get near your sound system . But yep my mum has a mondeo now, if you like engines its a rubbish car, all you can see is a hug metal case on top. All the goodies are well hidden, you can connect to the EMS via a smart phone, but you cant change a spark plug! Or even a light bulb.......

Early mornings because we have a weeks holiday up here, so bike ride down to the beach and a spot of fishing .

What is a good design?

spec

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