Design by committee
Encyclopedia
Design by committee is a term referring to a style of design and its resultant output when a group of entities comes together to produce something (often the design of technological systems or standards), particularly in the presence of poor leadership. The defining characteristics of "design by committee" are needless complexity, internal inconsistency, logical flaws, banality, and the lack of a unifying vision.
The term is especially common in technical parlance, and it legitimizes the need and general acceptance of a unique systems architect
. Often, when software is designed by a committee, the original motivation, specifications and technical criteria take a backseat and poor choices may be made merely to appease the egos of several individual committee members. Such products and standards end up doing too many things or having parts that fit together poorly (because the entities who produced those parts were unaware of each other's requirements for a good fit).
One such example was the decision for an Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM) cell size of 53 bytes. The choice of 53 bytes was political rather than technical. When the CCITT
was standardizing ATM, parties from the United States wanted a 64-byte payload. Parties from Europe wanted 32-byte payloads. Most of the European parties eventually came around to the arguments made by the Americans, but France and a few others held out for a shorter cell length of 32 bytes. A 53-byte size (48 bytes plus 5 byte header) was the compromise chosen. Computer and network systems typically work in 32-byte and 64-byte sizes.
The term is also common in other fields of design as graphic design, architecture or industrial design. In automotive design this process is often attributed to poorly designed or unpopular cars.
One maxim is that a camel is a horse designed by committee; this has been attributed to Vogue magazine
, July 1958, to Sir Alec Issigonis
and also to University of Wisconsin philosophy professor Lester Hunt.
The term is especially common in technical parlance, and it legitimizes the need and general acceptance of a unique systems architect
Systems architect
The systems architect establishes the basic structure of the system, defining the essential core design features and elements that provide the framework for all that follows, and are the hardest to change later....
. Often, when software is designed by a committee, the original motivation, specifications and technical criteria take a backseat and poor choices may be made merely to appease the egos of several individual committee members. Such products and standards end up doing too many things or having parts that fit together poorly (because the entities who produced those parts were unaware of each other's requirements for a good fit).
One such example was the decision for an Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
(ATM) cell size of 53 bytes. The choice of 53 bytes was political rather than technical. When the CCITT
ITU-T
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union ; it coordinates standards for telecommunications....
was standardizing ATM, parties from the United States wanted a 64-byte payload. Parties from Europe wanted 32-byte payloads. Most of the European parties eventually came around to the arguments made by the Americans, but France and a few others held out for a shorter cell length of 32 bytes. A 53-byte size (48 bytes plus 5 byte header) was the compromise chosen. Computer and network systems typically work in 32-byte and 64-byte sizes.
The term is also common in other fields of design as graphic design, architecture or industrial design. In automotive design this process is often attributed to poorly designed or unpopular cars.
One maxim is that a camel is a horse designed by committee; this has been attributed to Vogue magazine
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, July 1958, to Sir Alec Issigonis
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS was a Greek-British designer of cars, now remembered chiefly for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959.- Early life:Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna ...
and also to University of Wisconsin philosophy professor Lester Hunt.