Crossrail chief describes the position we are all in
On Friday, Mark Wild, Chief Executive from Crossrail spoke these immortal words – while we understand the engineering, the software is completely new and is performing a complex task. We don’t know how it is going to perform.
Today’s computer systems are hugely complex and consist of interlocking pieces which need to work together perfectly. Each interface is defined and tested but the tests are usually incomplete. Why? Well, as a programmer, I test against what I have designed and delivered. That’s a flawed test compared to its experience in the wild and all the multitude of things that can happen. Crossrail’s software is a complex set of algorithms ensuring trains cross other railway systems, roads and paths without any collisions. There are weather systems that can impact how that performs alongside other parameters. It’s not trivial and often will have built in overrides: if it doesn’t get right, who will save the day?
I’ve been designing interfaces that allow the experiences of the users to be evaluated and then we can go back and ask whether the tools provide maximum benefit.
This is an important step: as a designer solving a problem, I can answer as much as I can but that’s not the same as it being of most use and benefit.
What are you saying? Is the job never done?
I don’t think it necessarily is: the more I interact with users, the more I learn but that is not what many companies are doing.
For me, the more you use computers, see the good, the bad and the downright ugly, the more you improve your output and environments.
Posted: April 28th, 2019 under 42, Work.