Does experience enable or impede the design process?

The authors describe how, at the heart of engineering design lies problem-solving, the lifeblood of which is experience. Experience presents us with proven solutions, it tells us about solutions that are known to be flawed, it suggests prototypical solutions than can be adapted to new purposes, and it dramatically reduces the effort we need to exert to solve problems. It makes the cumulative development of technology possible because it means we don´t have to return to first principles every step of the way.