computer science

Patton Design

Patton Design is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Patton Design rather than just read about it. In short: Patton Design, Inc. is an industrial design, engineering, software and hardware, and prototyping consultancy based in Irvine, California. The firm was founded in 1983 by California State University at Long Beach alumnus Doug Patton.

Key takeaways

Patton Design belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Patton Design to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Patton Design from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Patton Design, Inc. is an industrial design, engineering, software and hardware, and prototyping consultancy based in Irvine, California. The firm was founded in 1983 by California State University at Long Beach alumnus Doug Patton. Company staff appeared on the ABC television series American Inventor and represented the million dollar winner with the "Anecia Survival Capsule" child safety seat, the second-place winner with "The WordAce" children's game, and the third-place winner with "The Catch Elite" football receiver trainer. Patton Design is a patron member of the Industrial Designers Society of America and has won seventeen Industrial Design Excellence Awards.

Notable projects Patton Design collaborated with the Advanced Research division of Apple Computer on its Workspace 2000 "office of the future" concept prototype. This featured voice-activated and touch-sensitive working surfaces intended to provide interactive computing facilities, together with a curved partition that could also be used as a screen to "teleconference" with remote colleagues. The computational aspect of these working surfaces were to be provided by clip-on personality modules or "P-Mods". A range of office furniture accessories and devices were also proposed, including "computer pads" or tablets such as the approximately A4-sized Notepad and a pocket computer with a roll-out screen known as the Scroll. The project was completed during 1988, and in 1990, Patton suggested that "three or four other ideas" had since been developed in conjunction with Apple for potential products. Apple reportedly received much interest from individuals and furniture manufacturers, even compiling a shortlist for further collaborations, but the company made no further commitment to continuing such efforts.

References

External links Official website [2] [3] [4] [5]

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Patton Design

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Patton Design claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Patton Design before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Patton Design ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Patton Design

In research: Patton Design appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Patton Design in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Patton Design is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 establishments in California, Companies based in Irvine, California, Computer companies of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Patton Design outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Patton Design in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Patton Design means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Patton Design out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Patton Design in simple terms?

Why does Patton Design matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Patton Design?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Patton Design.