Foreword: Hobbyist and Professional Designs

Hobbyist designs are done for fun. Professional designs are done for need.

Six month ago, when Prof. Kota asked me why I wanted to make an ornithopter, I stammered. I said because it attracted me more than anything else. Honestly, that’s a terrible answer, because it is not answering to what was really asked: “what is the need that you are designing for?”. The truth is that, I am not designing for any need. This is my last hobbyist design.

In my opinion, hobbyies and professional designs can yield same final products, they can be equally interesting, but they are two fundamentally different processes.

Hobbyist designs self-fulfill its need. For example, a hobbyist is now making a ornithopter. They tell themself: “my need is an ornithopter”. Maybe one day after a thousand failure, they finds that they are only able to make a glider, then a hobbyist, can tell themself “my need is not an ornithopter, but an glider”. If failds again, they can say “No no no, my need is a aircraft sculpture but not flying glider”. A hobbyist can always change their need so that their design always satisfy their need. Thus, the design is not need-oriented. The design is self-oriented.

Professional designs are need-oriented, no matter it is for society, industry or academia. In professional designs, need also can change. Design is an iterative process which will update the need for which it is catering for (ironicly, this also apply to my hobbyist example). However, instead of changing the need for the purpose of design, professional design changes need for need. The design is need-oriented. The design is an tool.

I am lucky to have valuable education resource for mechanical design. I feel responsibility to do professional designs in return. That’s why I stammered six month ago.

Acknowledgement

Inspired by UMich Prof. Washabaugh: “Analyist does what they can do. Designers does what need to be done”, Sept. 4 2020.

Inspired by “find the right question” concept from Stanford Prof. Bernard Roth and “needfinding” concept from Stanford Prof. David Kelley. Accessed Sept. 25 and Oct. 8 2020