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The Maximum Viable Product
@Zach Wheeler I believe that Michael was remarking on the impact that design can have as part of a whole. He acknowledged the shortcomings of the design. He chose to come away inspired. It was not an article singularly measuring the success of the bridge design. Ask yourself what is more important... 7 hours ago
Nailed it, Earth man. The bridge inspired the thoughts. Perhaps I could have researched other examples that didn't have scalding deck plates, but I think anecdotally it still works.
I think it's odd that you make such a big deal about the fact that it's also a sun dial but breeze over the fact that the floor is made of glass and the entire bridge gets hot enough to melt shoes in the summer. Last time I was there multiple people had to carry their dogs across the bridge and the walkway itself was blazing hot. Seems like poor design planning, even if it does tell the time.
great article Michael!
Thanks NB!
This maximal viable product sounds like an interesting concept, but I've gotta say if I were a resident of Redding, I think I'd be a lot less likely to give a designer a long leash after this experience. If you're aiming to expand the conversation about what design can and should be, I think it might be better to find examples that nail their objectives with core users, and maybe scoop up an extra usecase or two without breaking the bank. In this case, I'm thinking that both local dogs and taxpayers are a lot closer to the core users than sightseers who'll likely never visit again. But hey even a design critique doesn't have to be a masterpiece on the first iteration - why not come back to us with an exploration of the important and real tension between making this park (and the city and region more generally) into a tourist destination, vs the need to have simple, functional infrastructure, and how that reflects and refracts thinking and designing like an engineer vs. like a starchitecht (e.g. see Frank Lloyd Wright's leaky and expensive to maintain buildings).
@Zach Wheeler I applaud your fervor for what you think is right. Sometimes being right is not the most important position. I enjoyed the article. I credit Michael as illustrating a personality that can evaluate both sides of a coin and choose to stay inspired. A quality of a good leader. In this instance one individual sees a failed bridge design the other sees inspiration, to each his own. From one stranger to another "attitude is everything".
I think that the first step for the designers should be to learn what the MVP actually is.