Nigel Cross

Winning by Design: The Methods of Gordon Murray

A Research Paper by Nigel Cross & Anita Clayburn Cross

A case study of the working methods of one particularly successful designer in a highly competitive design domain - Formula One racing car design. Gordon Murray was chief designer for the very successful Brabham and McLaren racing car teams in the 1970s and 1980s. His record of success is characterised by innovative breakthroughs, often arising as sudden illuminations, based on considering the task from first principles and from a systemic viewpoint. His working methods are highly personal, and include intensive use of drawings. Personality factors and team management abilities also appear to be relevant. There are some evident similarities with some other successful, innovative designers
- design
Co-Evolution of Problem and Solution Spaces in Creative Design

An Essay by Nigel Cross & Kees Dorst
www.researchgate.net
1. Between the two spaces

Primitive design

An Article by Matt Webb

I want it to feel intuitive

I want any new features to be platform features, not one-offs.

And the second of those is weird, right? It’s like sketching out a toy spaceship, having a list of rules about play, and attempting to simultaneously invent the shape of the Lego brick.

That’s platform design I suppose. Redesigning a newspaper will mean bouncing between comps and style guides, designing both. Inventing the iPhone user interface will have seen apps and app paradigm evolving together.

Co-Evolution of Problem and Solution Spaces in Creative Design