8 - Kyle Hiller

"Playing the Whole Game" has a much different meaning to me now than it did the first few weeks of class. When I initially heard about it in class I assumed that it was a very black and white sort of thing in the sense that there was one specific way that was expected to get something done.  Now after completing the multiple different projects, I have realized that there are so many different ways to design something.  What works for one designer might make absolutely no sense to another designer, but they could both create something equally functional in their own unique design methods.  There are so many different aspects that go into "Playing the Whole Game" that all have a very different role each time you design something different.  One time research might be extremely important in order to have a successful design, while another time there is little research that needs to be done but instead a lot of prototyping until a successful one is found.  However, no matter how you look at it, all the steps in 'the game' are going to be intertwined with each other and all rely on each other in order to create a successful design.  I now know that the design process for something/anything can (and normally should) take many hours and many attempts at it; good design doesn't just happen.  I noticed this working on project 4 and having to go back many times and change or re-do work we had done but then realizing something else would work better.  It is something that has to develop from a solid team and trial and error.  I also now know that 'failure' in design is very important in the sense that when you are designing something, you often have to realize what isn't going to work first before you can get to a design that works well and efficiently.  The "Playing the Whole Game" concept is something that has changed greatly for me throughout this course so far and I am sure that by the end of the course I will have an even greater and different idea of it than I do now because I will continue to learn and get better the more designing I do.