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The nature of design
The master designer wields an alchemic power to create without addition.
The entire purpose of creativity can be summarized as manipulations aimed at achieving asymmetric outcomes. For example, from combinatory processes we get emergent properties — the whole being greater than the sum of the parts — meaning that value has been created. (A specific example of combinatory creation can be found in the addition of the electric motor to a washbasin to create the washing machine.) However, there is a subtle but powerful aspect of creativity that often goes overlooked: let’s call it “alteration.”
By “alteration” I mean a reorganizing of elements, as opposed to the addition or substitution of elements. Nothing need be added to transform a bowl into a plate, yet I much prefer to use the latter if I’m to cut steak on it. A more aerodynamic bus could potentially save a municipality large sums of money on gas. Varied designs for a chair can spare the bones or muscles pressure in a variety of ways. When it comes to software, tweaks in the user interface (UI) can often be viewed in this light, and I’d attribute the success of the iPhone, for example, to be in no small part due to its UI. The iPhone’s UI is so intuitive I’ve seen multiple infants use it with little or no prior exposure. These examples of “alteration” represent a low-cost way to create enormous added value. For every element and combination of elements, there is an ideal form it can assume — ideal in regards to some objective.
Biology makes good use of this low-cost strategy for optimization. Each of us can be grateful that our feet and hands are altered to best serve their purpose. This process is employed by evolution from head to toe, literally — our mouths are full of teeth that are shaped differently to best perform some aspect of mastication, and our toes vary in size and shape for optimized function. Likewise, there is virtually no animal that foregoes the advantages of sexual dimorphism. Truly, “duplication and divergence” underlies all of biology.
