Lol, you think physical engineers don't throw together prototypes that they know won't be good enough for the final design just to get everything working together?
They do a preliminary design. They don't throw up some 2x4s and corrugated aluminum to use as a building in the meantime while doing a real design.
Or they iterate designs and prototype manufactured products.
They do not stamp and accept professional liability for thrown-together designs that bosses want to prematurely push out the door into production.
They tell the boss to budget them what's needed, or go find some other sucker to stamp it.
I'm mixed on the pros and cons of professional licensing, but it does give PE's a great amount of personal authority in refusing to be a part of substandard work. Even to clients and bosses.
I would add that not all physical engineers have to get licensed to do their work.
So what's the difference then between that type of iteration and the type of iteration you see commonly in software? It sounds like the main differentiator for you is "doneness" or something similar to that?
But the difference between preliminary design and final product is much smaller in software than in building, so the cost of making an actual working prototype during the early phases is much less.
