State How Engineering Design Is Different From Other Kinds of Design
State How Engineering Design Is Different From Other Kinds of Design
State How Engineering Design Is Different From Other Kinds of Design
While scientists study how nature works, engineers create new things, such as products,
websites, environments, and experiences. Scientists perform experiments using the scientific
method; whereas, engineers follow the creativity-based engineering design process. The kinds of
design involve:
Engineering Design – Design that applies to engineered structures, infrastructure, technology and
machines in creating functional products and processes. Engineering design is the creative
process of identifying needs and then devising a solution to fill those needs. This solution may be
a product, a technique, a structure, a project, a method, or many other things depending on the
problem. It is a decision – making process in which the basic sciences, mathematics and
engineering sciences are applied to optimally convert resources to meet a stated objective.
Landscape Design – Integration of nature and architecture to create parks and gardens
Software Design – Outlines the structures, components and methods that solve a problem with
software
User Interface Design – Design the interfaces that people use to control and interact with
technology
Both processes can be broken down into a series of steps, as seen in the diagram and table.
The Engineering
The Scientific Method
Design Process
Analyze your results and draw conclusions Test and redesign as necessary
The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineers follow to come up with a
solution to a problem.
1. Define the Problem
The engineering design process starts with the following questions about problems:
2. Do Background Research
Learn from the experiences of others —to avoid mistakes that were made in the past. So, for an
engineering design project, do background research in two major areas:
Users or customers
Existing solutions
3. Specify Requirements
Design requirements state the important characteristics that your solution must meet to succeed.
Good designers try to generate as many possible solutions as they can for solving design
problems.
Look at whether each possible solution meets your design requirements. Reject solutions that do
not meet the requirements.
Development of a solution has to be continued throughout the design process. E.g. Drawings and
plan.
7. Build a Prototype
A prototype is an operating version of a solution which is the key step in the development of a
final solution and is used to test how the solution will work.
9. Communicate Results
Write a short statement giving the general outline of the problem to be solved.
This detailed description of the problem spells out what the design must achieve.
Combine your ideas with information obtained from your research to suggest several possible
design solutions. Sketch several possibilities on paper.
Decide which solution to develop considering constraints like time, cost, or skills.
Construct a prototype
Make the model of the product and the final product is developed from it.
Testing is ongoing as the construction progresses. Evaluate the following: How well does the
design function? Does the design look good? How could I have improved on my design?
Write a report
The report provides evidence of your work in analysis, planning, designing, carrying out
practical work, evaluating, and communicating.
Adapted from Garrett, J. (1991). Design and Technology. Reprinted with permission of
Cambridge University Press.
The simplest descriptive model of the design process defines three phases:
1. Generation: the designer generates or creates various design concepts.
2. Evaluation: the designer tests the chosen design against metrics that reflect the client‘s
objectives and against specifications that stipulate how the design must function.
3. Communication: the designer communicates the final design to the client and to manufacturers
or fabricators.
Problem definition: We frame the problem by delineating the customer requirements, which
means clarifying the client‘s objectives, identifying constraints, and establishing functions before
we begin conceptual design.
Preliminary design or embodiment of schemes: Here we flesh out our proposed concepts, that
is, we embody or endow design schemes with preliminary versions of their most important
attributes. We select and size the major subsystems, based on lower-level concerns that take into
account the performance and operating requirements.
Detailed design: We now articulate our final design in much greater detail, refining the choices
we made in preliminary design down to specific part types and dimensions.
Design communication: We now spell out and present our design process, the resulting final
design, and its fabrication specifications.
Design Objectives are finalized through pair wise comparison chart. The pairwise comparison
chart (PCC) is a tool for ordering the relative importance of objectives. It is based on the
assumption that we can order any two objectives taken as a pair. For example, we prefer cost to
durability, portability to cost, portability to convenience, and so on. The PCC is a simple matrix
that allows us to (1) compare every objective with each remaining objective individually, and (2)
add total scores for each objective.
Table below shows a PCC for our four-objective ladder design. The entries in each box of the
chart are determined as binary choices: Every entry is either a 1 or a 0, where 1 indicates that the
row objective is preferred over the column objective. We enter nothing in the diagonal boxes
corresponding to weighting any objective against itself. Here the four objectives are ranked (with
their scores) in order of decreasing value or importance: portability (3), convenience (2), cost (1),
and durability (0).
The five stages of Design Thinking, according to d.school, are as follows: Empathise, Define
(the problem), Ideate, Prototype, and Test.
The first stage of the Design Thinking process Empathise is to gain an empathic understanding
of the problem you are trying to solve. This involves consulting with experts to find more about
During the Define stage, you put together the information you have created and gathered during
the Empathise stage. Here, we analyse our observations and synthesise them in order to define
the problem statement.
During the third stage of the Design Thinking process Ideate, designers are ready to start
generating ideas by thinking outside the box to identify new solutions to the problem statement.
Brainstorm and come up with as many creative solutions as possible.
During the fourth stage of the Design Thinking process Prototytpe, design team will produce
scaled down versions of the product, so they can investigate the problem solutions generated in
the previous stage. Prototypes may be tested within the team itself.
During the fifth stage of the Design Thinking process Test, Designers rigorously test the
complete product using the best solutions identified during the prototyping phase.
Test – solutions
Divergent thinking is a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many
possible solutions. It typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, "non-linear" manner, such
that many ideas are generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. Divergent thinking uses the
imagination to open the mind to new possibilities and solutions, and ultimately become more
innovative.
Convergent thinking is the opposite of divergent thinking. It generally means the ability to give
the "correct" answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, for instance
in most tasks in school and on standardized multiple-choice tests for intelligence. Convergent
thinking moves from broad thoughts to concrete understanding, where the thoughts from
divergent thinking can be narrowed down to the most promising ideas and solutions.
Bingo Selection
Best practice: The Bingo Selection method inspires participants to divide ideas. However, in this
method, the facilitator should encourage the participants to split ideas according to a variety of
form factors, such as their potential applications in a physical prototype, a digital prototype, and
an experience prototype.
The five stages of Design Thinking are not sequential steps, but different ―modes‖ you can put
yourself in, to iterate on your problem definition, ideas, or prototype during the project
implementation.
Members of a Design Thinking team need to be open minded, curious, collaborative and allow
their assumptions to be challenged, ready for change, and be adaptable. Cross-disciplinary teams
will provide you with the best results. Teams may consist of people unfamiliar with each other,
with external members either as specialists or facilitators depending on the availability of skills.
To make a Design Thinking project successful, we need T-shaped people. T-shaped people have
a depth of knowledge and experience in their own fields but they can also reach out and connect
with others horizontally and create meaningful collaborations. All team members should be
encouraged to respect each other's inputs, in order to discover deeper and to build upon each
other's findings.
Everyone thinks, feels, and experiences things differently. Differences are what we need.
-Fear of failure
Facilitation Step 1: Tell your Team Members about the Overall Process of Design Thinking
Explain the five stages in the Design Thinking Process- Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and
Test.
Explain that the five stages of Design Thinking are not sequential steps, but different modes you
can put yourself in, to iterate on your problem definition, ideas, or prototype, or to learn more
about your users at any point in the project.
Explain how Design Thinking builds a third way – combining the analytical and information-
driven approach of science with the holistic, empathic and creative ways of thinking in design.
Explain that there are lots of proven methods that you‘ll apply along the way, like user
interviews, brainstorm sessions, sketching, user testing, etc.
Knowing the background and underlying structure will help your team members to feel safer as
they know that there‘s a solid background. You could remind your team members that
innovation demands courage and an open mind while progressing towards the goal.
Icebreakers are important for breaking through barriers when teams need to start working on
something new, or when people don't know or trust each other well enough. It may be as simple
as introducing people properly, or explaining the process they are about to engage in.
Consider barriers that may exist in the team and design your icebreakers based on these.
Ensure that the icebreakers are not to embarrass but to build confidence and make people
comfortable going forward.
Icebreakers are not meant to produce winners and losers but are meant to level the playing field.
Co-create a story
A set of story aids like Rory's Story Cubes may help even further, especially with those who may
be too shy to suggest something different. The story cubes come with a range of objects, actions,
and themes that can be mixed and matched to create or encourage randomised story telling. It's
also an excellent tool for getting people in the mood for brainstorming.
Visual telephone - Another similar activity which encourages visualisation rather than spoken
stories is the visual telephone. The team starts off with the first player drawing a simple picture
in secret, and then passing it on to the person beside her/him, who will then look at the image
without showing the others, and will write down her/his interpretation of what the image relates
to. The next person will then take that explanation and draw an image to show it, and so on, until
the telephone has moved through the entire team. The entire team will then review the end
results to find out how each person interpreted the message they received.
Mindtools provides a good icebreaker outline with some examples for icebreakers in different
settings.