1st, we learned that debugging electronics is best done with a cool head and plenty of time.
2nd, use quality electronic parts to begin with. It can save you lots of time. An example of this is the two types of IC sockets available on the market. One on the right has square holes with embedded spring loaded wipers. These are debugging-time-eaters because these wipers may not touch the IC pins. The one on the left have round holes with machined metal plating covering the inner hole wall and the outside top wall. This socket’s metal plating design is more likely to conduct IC pins.
3rd, if you are working against time, initially spend time planning out the construction and testing steps. If you have a deadline at which you need to put out a product by, you should plan your assembly/test so that all you would have to do is go through your outline or your plan, step by step. If your plan calls for some experimentation mid-way, then you are on the wrong track. Experimentation can hold you up.
You're not a scientist. You're an engineer. For assured success, you should find and go with a tried-and-true method. Sure, you may learn and get more from experimenting, but if your goal is to put out a product by a deadline then you need to know how to arrive at a solution NOW.
And lastly, “Test as you build, build as you test.” You should build one step and test, as opposed to building through multiple steps. If you build one step and test, then if the test fails, all you would do is go back a step and re-do that step until you get it right. If you build multiple steps at once and then test, you will have to go through a more time consuming process-of-elimination to find out what your problem is. This is what I call the needle in a haystack method.
