THE DESIGN PROCESS

The design process is a planned series of steps for the achievement of a practical purpose…

While it is known as ‘the’ design process, it can actually take slightly different forms depending on the nature of
the design ‘problem’ that needs to be resolved. Two slightly different diagrams are presented below to help
understand this but essentially, the series of steps presented underneath the diagrams always occur to some
degree.

1. DESIGN PROBLEM

Designing is not difficult. It can be great fun, but there will be many things for you to think about. You will need
to make many decisions to solve the problems, which will occur, while you are working out your ideas. It is easy
to design things and to solve these problems if you have something to guide you, a route to follow.

Design problems are very varied. You may be required to use a range of materials or only one. The project may be
straightforward or more complicated. Whatever the problem, your route to a solution will be the same. You will
follow the stages which make up the design process.

If your design has not been successful you may need to redesign part, or all of it. This will mean that you will
need to go back to your initial ideas and develop another solution to the problem.

The design process is not only used in school but also by designers and engineers working on 'real' products in
industry. It is very important that articles which are to be made and sold are designed properly and thoroughly
tested to make sure that they are suitable for the purpose for which they are intended. Designers take into account
the impact upon society and the environment.

Design is concerned with decisions of taste, choice and sensitivity and relies on your value judgements.

Designs can be led by:

 idea
 technology
 market
 demand
 design

Design Situation

The first part of the design is called the situation which is a problem or a need that requires a solution. In
everyday life people everywhere are solving problems or meeting specific needs. We do not have unlimited
knowledge, resources such as money, time and materials thus limits must be established on how to solve the
problem or to meet the need.

By analysing the situation specifications and criteria for the success of the design project can be listed. These give
a clear direction of where the project is heading and provide guidelines to evaluate the project's progress. If this is
not done, there are bound to be confusion whether the design is good or not.

Identify a Need
What is a need?
We all require food and shelter at the basic level, but after that we want different things because we all have
different life styles. People use manufactured products so that they can do things. As people get older they want
different things. It is the role of the Designer to find out what people want and produce solutions to their
problems. It is said that a large manufacturer designed and made a range of eggcups for the Asian market. If they
had done their research they would have found out that Asian eggs would not fit. The Designer must also establish
where this need exists.

The Design Brief

All design projects start with a brief. This is usually a short statement of intent, which sets out the basic problem
eg "We will design and make a Formula One racing car". Although it states the problem, it isn't enough
information with which to start designing. The short statement of intent indicates what you are going to do.

The design brief must be short and complete. It must give all the information available about the problem. It must
list all the things to be thought about. It is up to the designer to solve the problem, so the brief will not give an
answer, only information

Points to follow when writing a design brief

 Your design brief statement should be simple.
 Ideally, it should take up no more than one or two lines.
 Your design brief should indicate a purpose
 Do not limit the range of possible design ideas by adding restricting statements such as 'it must be made
of acrylic'.
 Do not write in the 1st person 'I am going to make...'

During all stages in the design and making process, you have to refer back to the Design Brief to check that you
are actually doing what you said you were going to do.

Design Constraints.
Constraints influence what you can and cannot do in a design project. These limitations or parameters are part of
the process that will create the final design. If you have no design constraints, you are not limiting the full range
of possible solutions but it does make researching and designing more difficult. On the other hand, if you add too
many design constraints, your brief and final solution will be limited and will reduce your creative input and
enjoyment.

The importance of constraints varies from project to project so are an important consideration at the beginning of
every design project. Time available, function, safety, environmental considerations, ergonomics, aesthetics, cost,
materials, tools and equipment, expertise are examples of possible constraints associated with design projects.
2. Analysis and Research

Analysis of the Design Brief

After the design brief is written it is possible to conduct research and generate your ideas for the project.
However, time can be wasted by asking the wrong questions and producing work that cannot be marked as it is
irrelevant.

The purpose of analysing the design brief is to come up with relevant questions to research. Never come up with
solutions at this stage. This is, probably, the most important section in the beginning stages of the design process
as features of the design brief are identified. Expansion of knowledge in relevant areas assists designers to
produce meaningful designs.
Research
Research is a very important part of any design process and sometimes needs to happen several times in one
design project. Research can be broken into two main types:

a) Inspirational research
Inspiration is the spark from things around us that ignites our own creativity. Inspiration can come from
anywhere, however, inspirational research means actively looking for images, words or other media that will
prompt our ideas. Inspirational research can involve looking through magazines and books, surfing the Internet,
visiting museums, or anything you investigate regarding its style and possible design solutions. Sometimes
inspiration can come from an apparently irrelevant source.

b) Technical research
To make a product it is essential that we know and understand some of the technology that will be used in its
manufacture. Technical research is a process of investigation to seek out the most appropriate and cost-effective
way to produce your product. As with inspirational research, books, and the Internet can be used to research
technologies, however, the best available resource for manufacturing technologies are people with manufacturing
experience. These can be your teachers or other industry professionals.

3) Investigation of existing solutions

Often designers have already tried to solve similar or related problems. Designers often research existing solutions
to evaluate how well these solutions solve the problem, to identify strengths and weaknesses and to ensure the
new design has a degree of difference from these existing solutions.

3. Design Ideas
Generating and recording creative ideas
When presented with a design problem, many students of design have an initial idea. To them it is the obvious
solution. This may be a great solution, but it is important that after you have recorded the idea, you 'put the idea
on the shelf'. Move on quickly to record a range of different solutions. How can we choose the best idea if there is
only one idea to choose? Generate as many ideas as you can. The more preliminary ideas you have, the wider your
options and the better your final solution will be. If you get stuck, go back to your inspirational research.

A picture is worth a ‘thousand words’. Sketching is a powerful tool used by designers for recording initial ideas,
developing elements of the design and working out complex problems. By using sketches you are able to
experiment with shapes, layout arrangements, proportions and colours without expending time and money on
producing a model or prototype.
Remember always evaluate your ideas against the criteria for success in your brief using a concept comparison
matrix table.
Final design concept – final choice
A final design concept is an idea with all the details resolved. Designers do not usually manufacture products
themselves. A design is normally handed over to industry and turned into a product by one or more
manufacturers. If a designer gave a manufacturer a sketch only, then important details such as size, colour,
material, layout and how it all fits together would be up to the manufacturer's interpretation of the sketch.

A design must be conveyed in a format that the person making the product can understand without any possibility
for confusion. Even if you are producing the project yourself it is important to include all details so there is no
need to guess at the final production stage.'

Once the design has been developed to a stage where the item is ready for production, it then becomes necessary
to produce a set of working drawings. These are technical drawings and are drawn so as to convey all the detailed
information necessary for the item to be produced.

4. Planning and Development

Production plan including: documentation of researching, time –lines, work plans, quality control measures,
costing lists, working drawings and specifications, testing and trialling materials, fittings and fastenings, and
processes relevant to the design brief. This primary research should incorporate experimentation and trialling of
processes and may include production of a scale model or toile. Judgments and decisions are recorded to show an
understanding of the suitability of materials, processes and tools, equipment and machines. The following can be
used to plan the development of the project:
 overall timeline or Gantt chart to show how the product will be completed within the allocated time frame
 detailed work plan including sequence of steps in production, showing estimated time to complete
processes, including reference to materials, tools, equipment and machines to be used
 quality-control measures and their timing within the work plan to ensure that standards of quality will be
met in the finished product
 risk assessment including safe use of tools, equipment and machines and processes
 materials costing list, including fittings and fastenings, drawn from the product specifications
 The working drawings and product specifications should be used when developing the production plan to
ensure that materials and resources are wasted.

5. Production

At this stage of the process all the thought and planning becomes a reality. If all the previous steps have been done
well, and provided your production skills are OK, the production of your project will be s success. To avoid time-
consuming and costly mistakes, it is a good idea to do some skills practice before beginning on the final project.
Some production objects are used for further testing and evaluation and can lead to further developments in the
design.

Final products can take many forms:

 digital - used with graphic and IT-based technologies, created with computer software and displayed on
screen or printed media
 mock-up - rough, actual-size model giving relationship between function or purpose and proportion
 form study - made in foam then coated with an appropriate finish to give the appearance of a completed
product
 model - made to an appropriate scale, giving realistic impression of final product
 virtual model - using computer software a 3D model is produced to view product without the expense of
producing an actual prototype
 prototype - complete first version of the final product, used in industry by technical experts and market
groups to test and evaluate final design before mass production

6. Testing and Evaluation

The process of testing and evaluation gives us direction and focus as we pursue our design solution. This happens
in two ways:
1. Ongoing testing and evaluation
Evaluation is just checking up on ideas, test results or solutions as you make your way through a design process.
A design process can take time to complete - without evaluation we can easily lose focus and get off track.

2. Final testing and evaluation

At the completion of any design it is important to evaluate the success of the design solution. Final testing and
evaluation is not the assessment that your teacher will carry out. Final testing and evaluation is to determine if
your final product is a success. The tests and guidelines for evaluation are outlined in the project brief under the
heading of Criteria for Success. Some examples may include peer assessment, a class survey or a written
statement from an industry professional.

Production management
Project management is organising available resources to maximum effect in a design process. Time, money, skills,
equipment, time with your teacher and raw materials are all resources that need to be managed as you design and
produce your project.

Time needs to be carefully managed. Your project will have a deadline for the product and report. Likewise with
money! The best way not to waste money is to design and plan carefully. If you do this, you won't need to change
your idea, and will only buy and use exactly what you need.

A Gantt chart is a useful tool for planning and scheduling projects and also helpful when monitoring a project's
progress. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and
finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project.
 Factors affecting Design
Designing is a creative process that involves the development of solutions to meet specific needs, wants or
opportunity. When a designer designs something specific, certain questions need to be asked about the end
product. How will it work? What will it look like? Will it be socially accepted? Will it harm the environment in
any way?
In any design project there will be a range of different factors that affect the way it develops. These include:
 Function - the following elements need to be considered when evaluating a design as functional.
- Does it work?
- Does the product do what it was designed for?
- Is it safe, durable, efficient?
- When will it be used?
- Who will use it?
- How often will be used?
- Where will it be used?
 Aesthetics - the following elements need to be considered when evaluating the aesthetics of a design.
- How does it look?
- Does the design have visual appeal?
- Do the colours suit the product?
- Will the user expect the product to look a certain way?

 Ergonomics - To assess the fit between a person and the used technology, ergonomists consider the job
(activity) being done and the demands on the user; the equipment used (its size, shape, and how
appropriate it is for the task), and the information used (how it is presented, accessed, and changed).
- How does the user interact with design?
- How does the designer affect our living and working environments?

 Ethics - require that we design responsibly according to moral principles

- What is right?
- What is wrong?
- Does it conform to societal values and belief?

 Environment - Taking care of the environment by the way we use resources is an important part of being
a good designer. Our world has a limited capacity to produce raw materials. If we use these materials at a
rate faster than they can be replenished, this is known as unsustainable use. Sustainability is described as
using resources at a rate the can be replenished within the life of the product.
- Does production of the product use natural resources?
- Will the making of the product cause pollution?
- When the product is used, does its use cause environmental problems?
- How can packaging be kept to a minimum?