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46 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2021 Feature Article by Chris Young THE GOEBEL COMPANY How many times in your career have you been asked, "Can we pull in the schedule?" Whenever you hear that question, can't you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand- ing up? is type of question can be hard for us to hear simply because it is the wrong type of question. e core issue, most oen, is how to best use our time during the design phase of a project. Optimizing design time consists of managing internal and external elements within our control and influence. Internal fac- tors we have control over are our skills, time, and behavior. External factors we have influ- ence over are requirements, design reviews, and stakeholder interactions. Personal skill management is the foundation of being an effective designer. e more ideas and methodologies that you encounter/use, the more depth and breadth of knowledge you will have to make well-informed decisions. Here are two general rules of thumb to help guide personal skill development regarding design efficacy. 1. Generalists should be well versed enough to convey requirements, design decisions, and interdisciplinary tradeoffs to specialists. Early in my career I was working on a project designing a mixed digital/analog IO board and needed to communicate to the power supply engineer what my power requirements were for my board. e good news was I had a previ- ous design to base my design on and could take measurements from that board to give a refer- ence. e bad news was I did not know what was important to communicate to the power supply designer. I took average voltage/cur- rent measurements, added some fudge factor and handed them over to him. He asked me how I got the numbers, and I replied that they came from the previous design—with additions based on increased circuitry on the new design. e measurements I made were static and did not account for any dynamic power draw. It turns out the -15V had an average current draw of tens of milli-amps and a peak of nearly Planning and Communication: Key to Optimizing Your Design Time