How Henry Ford helped us make software development better
When companies build software, they think the process will work like, say, building an engine. Inputs are provided and an output is expected.
Yet, in the real world, the way projects are commissioned is like artwork. Developers are given vague briefs and work in isolation, providing iterations of a product until the reality (of software development) matches the vision (of the manager).
Inexperienced clients are expected to articulate the details of their requirements when they are only equipped to explain desired outcomes.
Clients are forced pass on a tangled web of ideas and functionality — expecting the development team to reassemble it into a working, beautiful finished product that performs the tasks we need. And that this product will work in just the way we imagined. These two groups are effectively speaking different languages.
It’s no wonder that miscommunication or incomplete specs lead to such a high failure rate for bespoke software.
What, then, if commissioning a project was like assembling a car? Where creativity and originality are established at the start of the project. Then, everyone involved knows the components they need to create in order to complete the finished product.
Just as Henry Ford did with the car, Engineer.ai is taking software development and putting it on the assembly line.
‘’What was worked out at Ford was the practice of moving the work from one worker to another until it became a complete unit, then arranging the flow of these units at the right time and the right place to a moving final assembly line from which came a finished product.‘’
What made the assembly line revolutionary was the effectiveness it brought to each step of creating the automobile. Repetition and reuse created perfection in each activity.
We knew this logic could be applied to bespoke software development. The process begins with a functionality-led builder. This allows users to build out their software in a simple, recognizable way, in language anyone can understand.
‘The Uber for X, the Yelp for Y’
After choosing a basic framework, additional specific features are dragged into the project builder until the client is happy with the final functionality.
The AI-powered engine then builds these features into a detailed project brief. Rather than being re-built for every new projects, existing elements are used, reducing unnecessary work. Up to 60% of bespoke software is made up of existing components.
The assembly line draws these into a project plan with a chronological and conditional logic. As well as being more efficient in the planning stage, it makes the project faster and more cost-effective to build.
Developers and designers then have to build the gaps to create a complete product. The more bespoke components are distributed to the most suitable developer and design teams.
Atomic-level project briefs allow multiple people to work in parallel, knowing their components will dovetail with other features. This gives skilled developers more time to work on the bespoke elements, to apply art to their craft, and to build a finished product that performs the desired function.
The process is not just efficient, it’s broken. Currently, outsourced bespoke software has a failure rate of 91%. The margin for error in the current model is so high because it relies on communication between two parties that effectively speak different languages.
The industrialization of software development means that blind trust, or months spent creating specifications for projects are no longer required. It brings together the existing tools of the software ecosystem and aligns them so they can be built successfully and with less waste.
This is the approach Ford used when refining his assembly-line. Ford helped develop an infrastructure of dealer-franchisers, gas stations and better roads to support his cars. His great strength was the manufacturing process, not invention.
The company’s assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan, humming along in 1914 to churn out a new car every 93 minutes, threw America’s Industrial Revolution into overdrive.
The same year, Ford doubled his workers’ wages, helping more of them buy more cars. In addition to making the process more efficient, it created a catalyst for more growth.
In the same way Ford created wealth, the assembly line approach to development gives more people the confidence to build their ideas. And our growing library of components, alongside a network of engineers, means production can grow faster, more affordable and more effective as we grow.
You can take advantage of the Engineer.ai assembly line for software development receiving updates on our official presale: sign up today here. Or, build your next app on the super simple Engineer.ai builder today here.
Have you seen our CEO Sachin Duggal’s recent winning pitch from the ICORating event in New York City? Check it out here.
Sources
Sorensen, Charles E., et al. My Forty Years with Ford. Wayne State University Press, 2014.
“The 20 Most Influential Americans of All Time.” Time, 24 July 2012, http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/25/the-20-most-influential-americans-of-all-time/slide/henry-ford/.
