Hi Glenn,

I've got nothing against the newer Mustang and, as you say, it will have much better drive/ride/reliability/environmental
impact/safety..you name it.

That wasn't my point, and it's important to keep a focus on the fact that this is a discussion about research at doctoral level
rather than a consumers' or designers' forum. My interest is in the kind of challenge that the two designs presented, or rather
the challenge that their designers took on. The old Mustang required a jump into the unknown and the new one is arguably a rework
of well-known principles, it's a predictable design in which a huge amount of the product is just an incremental step away from
the last model, or other cars that Ford make.

Of course I was being mischievous but I think it's an interesting and more challenging place to try and locate the wicked/tame
boundary. Typically one might say that designing a conventional box girder to support a known load is a tame problem, designing a
bridge that will be functionally and aesthetically just right for a given location is wicked. That's easy and few would argue with
it, the Mustang is much more troublesome.

So without wishing to take anything away from the Mustang designers (and I started with a ringing endorsement of their talents) I
still feel that we are moving towards the day when this kind of consumer product can be designed in great part by an automaton
which tells me that, after 100 years of hard work, we've tamed the problem, or at least tamed the mainstream versions of it.
However that doesn't mean a clever designer can't still inject some wickedness back in and, for example, I would say that one
reason why Apple have been so successful with the Ipod is that they have taken on the wicked version of the problem while their
competitors have been content not to.

ps I did have a Mini in 1990 and it was simultaneously the least comfortable and most fun car I have ever owned. However that's
not relevant - what's really important is that it set out the fundamental design rules for every small car made in the world
today.

best wishes from Sheffield
Chris

****************************
Professor Chris Rust
Head of Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Psalter Lane, Sheffield, S11 8UZ, UK
0114 225 2738
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www.chrisrust.net



-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: 30 January 2006 12:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mustang

Chris,

I have to react about the Mustang. It is very easy to knock from a design stand point. Yet it is so much a better vehicle than the
original.