I use airplanes a lot to get from point A to B. I have always had a curious fascination with the work that other people do…which leads me to ask them about it, usually in the last 10 minutes of the flight. En route to San Francisco this week I met Hody Crouch, who works for AppForge….here’s an approximate transcript of our conversation…after I ask him if he’d like to switch his seat (aisle 11-A) with my colleague (exit row middle, 17-B) he says “middle seat, further back? Uh…no” and we then establish that he knows more about airplane seat configuration than anyone I’ve ever met…likely an engineer…so I ask him what I am now fondly thinking of as The Remarkabalize Question….
JA: [The Remarkabalize Question]: “What do you do?”
HC: “I work for a co that builds development tools for mobile devices.
The key to our tools is that we let you use Microsoft tools to build apps that target both Microsoft and non-Microsoft handhelds…”
JA: Wow! (Good elevator speech!) So give me the “so, so what?”
HC: Millions of developers are using MS tools…but you have hundreds of different mobile devices…operating on different platforms…even on Microsoft you have pocket PC, ppc. It’s a big mess…Our tools let you take those millions of developers targeting hundreds of platforms and make it easy for them to build apps.”
You must have noticed that these things (holds up his handheld) are everywhere.
JA: Yep. I actually consider them the “blankies for adults.” You know…blankie…blanket…fetishistic object?”
The conversation continued….at some point, I show him my copy of The Big Moo,
just to get his reaction. And this is what he said….which led me to later name the act of sharing The Big Moo….”The Remarkabalize Test” – a sort of instant mirror/ Rorschach technique to gauge what someone thinks is remarkable based on their first impression.”
HC: “Oh this reminds me of how I started my professional career….I worked for another company, Ratio DesignLab…We did concurrent engineering…you bring together traditionally disparate disciplines at a early stage in the design process. Traditional engineering is ruled by “over the wall thinking” – you know, you finish your work, throw it over the wall…and, with concurrent engineering you encourage disciplines to get together early in process to id potential opportunities and problems. In the design process the closer you get to production the more costly it is to fix …”
JA: You mean concurrent prototyping – it’s the same thing, right?
HC: Yes….For example, back up from end of…each discipline has its own constraints…for
Electrical engineering – ruled by laws by basic physical laws of battery power
JA: Tell me about it! That is my life…when I can plug this – pointing to laptop – into this – pointing to seatback – I will be a happy woman! I note this does not stop his conversation…)
HC: Interface Design – thinks about human communications interaction
3D Cad side -- the material selection -- ruled by material selection, drop test performance, environmental requirements.
JA: How is it different from a people/process dynamics point of view?
HC: It’s dramatically different. it really works best with highly qualified individuals who are willing to fight for what they believe in. The downside is that if you have a single dominating personality…
JA: And that never happens…(laughter)
HC: ….it can be dangerous… In traditional engineering there is a huge process moat to overcome…as the design gets passed from one function to another…which actually protects the integrity of the design. But in concurrent engineering – the design in flux – easier to make a change – and that’s double edged sword. It’s great for mood, morale, and for an aggressive ego-centric “I’ll fight for my design” approach…
There was a conflict that we just had…the electrical engineers needed a particular type of component for reliability…something about ribs in plastic…strengthening the case..
“I was in the room for the fight, and it literally came down to…you can either survive a 6 ft. drop test or make the batteries more reliable…or…enlarge the unit.
What do you want…you can’t have all three. I’m sure you’ve heard this line…
“You can have fast, good or cheap – pick two…”
JA: No Hody, I have not…. but I do love it and will definitely use it…Thank you….Hey…I think I need to write a story about you….
To reach Hody Crouch and AppForge...www.appforge.com
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