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Explaining Your Design
Rebecca J. Wirfs-Brock
Vol. 23, No. 6
November/December 2006
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E d i t o r : R e b e c c a J . W i r f s - B r o c k ■ W i r f s - B r o c k A s s o c i a t e s ■ r e b e c c a @ w i r f s - b r o c k . c o m
H
ave you ever tried to explain some as-
pect of your design and not known
where to start? Perhaps you had to
present how you solved a problem or
justify your chosen design among sev-
eral alternatives, and you weren’t sure
how to highlight key design aspects critical in
achieving a certain requirement. Or maybe
you weren’t sure how to ex-
plain parts of your design that
didn’t seem to make sense yet
were required.
Design decisions with wide-
spread impact or design nuances
that might confuse new team
members can benefit from good
definitions and narrative expla-
nations. When fellow designers
repeatedly ask, “Why did you
do it that way?” it’s good to have an effective
presentation that explains the tricky parts of
your design without losing people in the detai