610
Summary: The Systems Approach
612.7.2
Several characteristics of the relationships between these activities must
be pointed out as clarification of the manner in which the various tasks in
this program were executed:
1. There is no clear boundary between these activities in actual practice.
Their overlap is considerable, so the placement of certain tasks under
one activity or another is fairly arbitrary. All of them may be considered
as part of a general design process.
2. Although at first glance these activities appear to follow logically one
from the other in the order listed, they are in fact not independent. Each
cannot be carried beyond a certain point without information that must
be obtained by starting one or more of the others. "Chicken-or-egg"
questions arise constantly, and tasks often must proceed on the basis
of assumptions about what will be learned from other work not yet
completed.
3. Each of the first four activities must be repeated several times, at
different levels of specificity, before a demonstration building can be
designed and the fifth activity commenced. Field evaluation then
becomes a primary source of feedback information for continuous
development of the system. In other words, the process is cyclical,
each cycle producing more design detail, more accurate cost
projections, more effective performance, etc.
4. No amount of recycling of the first four activities can conclusively prove
that the proposed prototype design will in fact achieve the stated
objectives. Only the construction of one or more buildings will allow the
fifth activity to be implemented and the feedback loop to be closed.
5. At least three parties must engage in these activities at various times
and degrees: the consultant in executing this study, the VA in
establishing a data base for continuous development and programming
specific projects, and the A/E in designing the building. The scope of
assigned tasks must be carefully adjusted so that each party can
provide maximum benefit and minimum constraint to the others.
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