[sdiy] Design Process

[cheater cheater]

On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 22:17, David G. Dixon <dixon at interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
>> > Ask someone stupid.
>>
>>
>> I've solved problems with this method many times.  I find that to be
>> able to ask someone stupid, I end up explaining the thing step by step
>> so that they understand what I'm trying to do, and in the explanation,
>> I realize where the problem is.
>
> Absolutely (although, in fairness, there are no stupid people -- only
> uninformed people).

There definitely are stupid people. It's especially hurtful and
noticable when the people are well informed but still stupid.

>
> Another thing I find myself doing is going back to old designs and either
> improving them, or understanding why they are suddenly giving me unforeseen
> problems in new contexts, by steadily increasing my knowledge and
> understanding of electronics fundamentals.

It's also good to try to solve the same problems in different ways,
using different techniques. For example, write the same program in 5
completely different programming paradigms.

> Making mistakes and then correcting them is really the only valid way to
> learn anything important (and this is a professor talking!).
>
>