A few weeks ago, I traveled to Rhode Island for a mechanics day with my brother Brian. We both have BMW 2002s. His is a '76, mine is a '69. I had a few days off as i was changing jobs (more on that later) and this seemed like a great opportunity to unwind and get my hands dirty. Owning an old car requires somewhat frequent maintenance. However, this is really a choice - I love to fix (and make) things and i also like it when things work right. The joy and satisfaction of figuring out the problem, and taking your time to fix it creates a connection to your car (and saves scratch). That may sound a bit twisted, but you know that the job was done right and you can re-fix if needed and ultimately you become more familiar with your car. I dare anyone with a '08 vehicle to open the hood and identify something familiar. These new cars are so complex, the manufacturers do not want you to touch them. There is an Audi that has a fixed hood, you can't even open it. The rationale is that you don't need to, this creates a distance between you and your ride. In the good old days, you were expected to know what a dwell angle is, how to change a spark plug, and how to adjust your valves (what's a valve?).
Now, Chuck, you ask, what does this have to do with design? Good question. A book that influenced me in a profound way was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (can you see a thread here?). Now, Chuck you ask again, what does this book have to do with design? Another good question. Robert Pirsig essentially tackles the question of aesthetics and quality and the search for how to define 'good'. He does it through the lens of a long motorcycle trip and the need to maintain his Triumph. The dilemma of identifying what is good plagues the designer and the design/client relationship and will continue to do so until the end of time. How do you define good? It's not easy, and something that I continue to work on. I highly recommend this book to any one, but especially to designers. If you can get past the specific motorcycle parts, it is a very interesting read. This book, however, did not provide me with answers, but like Better (see earlier post) it provided me with a framework to think about 'goodness' and how try to become 'gooder'.