Planning the Project

By Joran Booth.

One of the easiest things to do in any design project is underestimate how much time it will take.  In my 2 semester senior design project at another university, our team was just returning from winter break.  Our coach told us that if we finished our prototype two months earlier than the April deadline, that he would give us all A's.  Naturally, we buckled down and started working like crazy.  Even though we started in January and wanted to have it done by mid-February, problems started to crop up.  It was a hassle to obtain parts, that one part just didn't fit, we didn't update the other parts on that one revision, and so on.  Before we knew it, it was mid-March, and we were finishing a month later than our self-imposed deadline.

Now, our coach knew just what he was doing.  He didn't tell us right away, but he didn't care about the original deadline.  He knew how much a project can get backlogged, and so he gave us a high goal so we would finish in time to finish all the other particulars of the project.  By finishing so early, we still had two weeks to work on our reports, drawing packages, and presentations.

However, I didn't learn my lesson until I saw what happened to all the other groups.  There were only two groups out of 30 that tried to finish early.  We two groups were also the only ones that finished on time.  There were several other groups I thought were going along fine, but sure enough, just before the deadline, they all had major issues come up that they couldn't resolve right away.  So, while our group was able to stay working like normal, other groups had to go into overdrive to make up time.

So, it's a long story, but the point is this: plan to complete certain tasks much earlier than you otherwise think is necessary.  Talk with your coach to set realistic goals, and if you try to front-load your work load for the semester, you will find yourself coming out ahead of everyone else.

Good luck, and happy designing!