Sketchpad and discovering by doing

While researching for the next post in the No-code history series I started noticing a pattern of quotes related to the process of discovery by creating a complete thing.

All quotes below are from a thesis described as "one of the most influential computer programs ever written by an individual, as recognized in his citation for the Turing award in 1988".

The decision actually to implement a drawing system reflected our feeling that knowledge of the facilities which would prove useful could only be obtained by actually trying them.

...

Had a working system not been developed, our thinking would have been too strongly influenced by a lifetime of drawing on paper to discover many of the useful services that the computer can provide.

As the work has progressed, several simple and very widely applicable facilities have been discovered and implemented.

...

As a result of trying to improve upon conventional drafting tools the full new capability of the computer-aided drafting system has come into being.