Saturday, March 31, 2012

Bespoke versus mass architecture


I am now in the process of debating a new item of concern - Be-spoke versus mass architecture. Essentially, for an architect, there are two ends of the problem space. At one end, there are problems and markets that need a mass solution. Ability to scale and reach are the most important problems that need to be addressed. At the other end of the problem space is bespoke or custom architecture. Here you work with a specific client and create a solution that is ideal for them. This is potentially a smaller size of market in terms of potential revenue, but do I really care?

Increasingly, I see that I get paid X amount of money per unit of time I spend on a specific problem. I am no genius and developing an optimum solution needs time, patience and focus. Ultimately, I find that I can do all the analysis I want, but a coherent solution "comes" to me when I have no more questions to ask. It creates itself, when I am ready to receive it. When I rush, and hop between competing priorities, I need to resort to brute force to come up with the solution.

Since my rewards are tied directly to the time spent by me, I will never earn multi-pliers on a solution. That is for my employer. My employer, of course wants to make tons of money. To do that he has to pay me, and the rest of the organization to deliver on the conceived design.

This is where things get tricky. Should I, as the architect, worry about the marketing potential of a design and how I could generalize it to serve as many customer segments as possible, or should I stick to the brief I have been handed? Am I qualified to assess the potential of a product, or should I stick to my design mandate and let the risk takers decide how to position the end-product?

Another question is more personal. Do I want to be the architect of a product that sold millions of copies or do I want to be the architect of the product that solved person X/ company Y's problem?

And finally, what is the direction of growth I am seeking? Something that can scale up and solve a small problem for millions of people or scale up to handle more complexity and comprehensiveness for a single customer?

This is a longer debate, and one that will  need more thought for me to be comfortable where I am and the path I have chosen?



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