17th design automation conference report June 23-25, 1980
ACM SIGDA Newsletter
The “gap” between users and designers of CAD/CAM systems: Search for solutions
DAC '81 Proceedings of the 18th Design Automation Conference
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It is not often that we mere mortals get the chance to address real CAD developers, so I will try to proceed with great caution. I feel that I should make the best of it, as I am sure that you see me representing the thousands of designers (read 'users') who have been cast in the role of banging shoes on keyboards, frustrated With their inability to get work done with (or even moreso, without) the available CAD tools. Hopefully I can rise to the task I'll like to try to attack this from three different approaches. The first is a little bit of my perspective on CAD. For most designers (engineers, computer developers, LSI chip designers, etc.), CAD plays a fairly minor role in their daily activities. I am sure that this situation can exist for long as reasonable CAD tools and cost-effective hardware become larger. But it is important to realize that most designers today still have never used a computer for more than bookkeeping, feel somewhat threatened with having to learn new ways to think about their designs (learning a new simulation language, for example), and feel that most CAD tools that they have come in contact with have been more a hinderance than an aid. On the other side, there is a growing belief (primarily among managers and CAD programmers) that the only workable solutions in the immediate future are through the application of computer power to the design process. With the reailty of designing 100,000 transistor devices and greater than 100 pin/sq. inch PC boards, it is easy to see that new techniques are required that will involve computers in some way. What is difficult for the design community is to differentiate between the automation techniques supported by the various cults that have formed and find useful tools. My second approach to the issue is to look at basic tools and categorize them as done well or poorly. Tools that a designer views as “working well” generally deal in areas that are either so rote that the designer is glad to be rid of the task or that help solve problems which run counter to the personal motivations in design. My third approach to the issue deals with the general area of how CAD developers approach their profession and how they are viewed by their customers. My concern here is with the growing gap between CAD developers and actual designers.