Eduqas A-level Design & Technology: Product Design

Risk Assessment: Step 1

Look for the hazards.

Risk Assessment: Step 2

Decide who might be harmed and how.

Risk Assessment: Step 3

Evaluate the risks.

Risk Assessment: Step 4

Record your findings.

Risk Assessment: Step 5

Review your assessment and revise it.

Planned Obsolescence

A concept of planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or of no use, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time.

Environmental design

The process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising products.

How have car manufacturers responded to the challenge of environmental design?

Electric/hybrid cars have been manufactured with lower carbon emissions and better fuel consumption.

Aesthetics

A core design principle that defines a design's pleasing qualities. It includes factors such as balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and visual weight.

Maintenance

A core design principle that aims to reduce the difficulties and costs associated with maintaining products.

Disposal

A core design principle that regards a product's end of life. Designers should aim to produce products that can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

Moral Issues

Customers are becoming much more aware of these when purchasing a product. They can relate to how and where a product is manufactured.

Costs and Expenses

A big consideration for designers because it effects the price a product will be sold to consumers for. It can depend on components used, materials, manufacturing processes or labour.

Criteria for being Fit for Purpose

Price, Performance, Aesthetic appeal, Reliability.

Above the line features

The visible attributes of a product (what the user can see). This can include shape, colour, finish, interface or texture.

Below the line features

The features that consumers need no knowledge of to use a product. This can include things like electronic circuitry, types of materials or how the product was assembled.

The four phases of Iterative design

Discover, Define, Develop, Delivery.

Discover (the first phase of iterative design)

Covers the start of the project where product designers try to look at the world in a fresh way, notice new things and gather insights.

Define (the second phase of iterative design)

The goal here is to develop a clear creative brief that frames the design challenge.

Develop (the third phase of iterative design)

This is a period of development where solutions or concepts are created, prototyped, tested and iterated. Potential solutions are produced here.

Delivery (the fourth phase of iterative design)

This is where the resulting project i.e. a product, service or environment, is finalised, produced

and launched.

Primary Specification

These are essential features a product must have to function

properly.

Secondary Specification

These are desirable features - nice to have but not essential for the product to function properly.

Quantitative Specification Points

These are specification points that can be measured.

Qualitative Specification Points

These specification points are more difficult to measure and

mostly personal opinion.

Methods of Design Communication

Freehand sketching, presentation drawings, CAD modelling, 3D modelling.

Primary Research

This is research you have to gather yourself directly. It could include phone calls, making questionnaires or self testing.

Secondary Research

This research has been done for you, for example internet data or information from books.

Sources of Research

ICT content, questionnaires, interviews, opinion groups, databases.

Inversion

A design strategy which involves reversing a problem and looking at it from a different angle.

Brainwriting

A design strategy where a group of people come together and each contribute an idea. There should be no criticism at this stage, and ideas can be mentioned regardless of how silly or impossible they might be.

Morphological Analysis

A design strategy where the key features of the product are identified and then the different ways of achieving these features are considered.

Reverse Engineering

To take a product apart to understand how it could be re-built

with slight adjustments or improvements.

Feasibility Studies

Measures taken to ensure a design investment will be worthwhile and reduce project risk.

Performance Modelling

This is the process of being able to test products to see

how they would perform in a real life situation.

Computer Performance Modelling

This usually would be under simulation scenarios where

computers would calculate different forces, stresses or

strains on the product when in use.

Ergonomics

The product or workplace must be constructed in a way that optimizes comfort and is tailored specifically to a person's needs.

Anthropometrics

The science of collecting statistical data about body

measurements. Data is collected for adults and children.

System Design

The process of defining the high-level architecture and structure of a product, such as its core elements, interconnections, and purpose. It involves creating a clear overview of the system before building it, and ensuring that it is simple, legible, and scalable.

Customer Needs

Features of a product that we cannot do without or essential features of products for our safety such as fire

retardant fabrics, low cholesterol foods.

Customer Wants

Features which make the purchaser feel wanted

or gives them status. These are not necessary to be present for

the product to work.

USP (unique selling point)

A feature which makes a product stand out amongst its competitors.

Technology Push

The process of creating new products or improving existing ones based on new discoveries or innovations in science and industry.

Market Pull

Refers to the need/requirement for a new product or a solution to a problem which comes from the market place. The need is identified by potential customers or market research.

The four stages of a product's life cycle

Launch, Growth, Maturity, Decline.

The four P's for marketing a product

Product, Price, Place, Promotion

Natural Materials

Materials derived from plants, animals or ore.

Composite Materials

This is created when two or more materials are bonded together. Usually the new material has

improved properties than the original materials.

Synthetic Materials

Materials that have been created by man via a scientific process.

Smart Materials

Designed materials that have one or more properties that can be significantly changed in a controlled fashion by external stimuli, such as stress, moisture, electric or magnetic fields, light, temperature, pH, or chemical compounds.

Regenerated Materials

Materials that have been re used or processed into a different

type of product such as wood waste processed into chipboard or MDF.

Conductivity

This is the ability of the material to conduct heat or electrical energy.

Strength

This is the ability of the material to withstand impact or force without deforming or breaking.

Elasticity

This is the ability of the material to bend or deform and return to its original shape.

Plasticity

This is the ability of the material to permanently change its form or shape.

Malleability

This is the ability of the material to be deformed or bent in all directions without breaking.

Ductility

This is the ability of the material to be stretched without breaking.

Hardness

This is the ability of the material to resist scratches, indentation and withstand wear.

Toughness

This is the ability of the material to withstand sudden impact or blows without breaking.

Durability

This is the ability of the material to withstand constant wear.

Cotton (Properties/Characteristics)

Absorbs sweat, drapes well, is comfortable against skin, machine washable, dry cleanable, good strength.

Wool (Properties/Characteristics)

Comes from sheep, good thermal qualities, good resistance to fire, fibres can be spun into yarn and knit into garments.

Copper (Properties/Characteristics)

Reddish pure metal, non ferrous, melting point of 110°C, good heat and electrical conductivity, good corrosive resistance, very malleable and ductile.

Silver (Properties/Characteristics)

Pure metal, white lustre, best metal for heat and electrical conductivity, quite expensive, tarnishes quickly, very malleable.

Silk (Properties/Characteristics)

Natural fibre from the cocoon of the mulberry silk worm, can be woven into textiles, natural shine and lustre, good absorbency, one of the strongest natural fibres, drapes well.

Linen (Properties/Characteristics)

Made from the fibres of a flax plant, exceptional coolness in hot weather, highly absorbent, good conductor of heat.

Red Cedar (Properties/Characteristics)

Softwood, very expensive, high resistance to rotting and weather, used for outside work like furniture or sheds.

Scots Pine (Properties/Characteristics)

Softwood, whitish cream colour with course grain, must be treated if used outside, relatively cheap, easy to cut and shape.

Ash (Properties/Characteristics)

Hardwood, excellent for turning on a lathe, flexible, open-grained, tough.

Oak (Properties/Characteristics)

Hardwood, very tough and durable, good resistance to weather and rotting, difficult to cut.

Mahogany (Properties/Characteristics)

Hardwood, reddish brown colour, good quality grain, easy to carve and work with.

Teak (Properties/Characteristics)

Hardwood, very tough, naturally oily finish, straight grain, highly resistant to moisture, fire and acid.

Balsa (Properties/Characteristics)

Hardwood, very light and soft, can be easily shaped and cut, not suitable for traditional furniture.

Acrylic (Properties/Characteristics)

Synthetic material, available in many colours as well as clear, scratches easily, can be brittle on impact, thermoplastic so can be reshaped with heat.

Epoxy Resin (Properties/Characteristics)

Synthetic, thermosetting polymer, excellent insulator of heat and electricity, comes in two parts: resin and hardener.

Teflon/PTFE (Properties/Characteristics)

Synthetic polymer made from chemicals, very low friction, used as coating on materials.

PVC (Properties/Characteristics)

Synthetic, thermoplastic, quite flexible, can be extruded into long shapes.

Kevlar (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite material, made of woven fibres, high resistance to impact and abrasion.

Carbon Fibre (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite material, made of woven fibres mixed with resin matrix to solidify its shape, high strength to weight ratio (higher than steel).

Goretex (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite, teflon based polymer material that is waterproof, windproof and breathable. Contains lots of tiny pores that absorb sweat but don't allow water to pass through.

MDF (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite, pale brown colour, made from very tiny waste wood fibres bonded together under pressure with adhesive.

Block Board (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite, can be veneered, made of strips of wood stuck together with the grain going in the same direction, cannot be joined in traditional ways.

Plywood (Properties/Characteristics)

Composite, made of layers of wood with grain of each layer at 90 degrees to previous layer, very strong and stable, can be bent or laminated.

Chipboard (Properties/Characteristics)

Regenerated material, made from large chunks of waste wood joined together under pressure with adhesive, very cheap, very poor in outdoor conditions.

Paper (Properties/Characteristics)

Regenerated material, formed by pressing together moist fibres and trying them out to produce sheets, typically made from cellulose fibres from wood, available in different sizes and thicknesses.

Card (Properties/Characteristics)

Regenerated material, generic term for heavy-duty paper, comes in various strengths.

Thermochromic inks

A smart material which changes colour depending on temperature.

Photochromic inks

A smart material that changes colour in different light conditions.

Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)

A smart material that can return to its original shape if deformed as a result of an electric current.

Thermoelectric material

A smart material that changes temperature as a result of an electrical charge.

Piezoelectric material

A smart material that will deform when a small electric current is passed through it.

Alloys

Metals that are a mixture of components made to improve the properties of the original materials.

Duralumin

A metal alloy consisting of 94% aluminium, 4.4% copper and 1.6% magnesium. It is much stronger than pure aluminium and much lighter steel.

Bronze

A metal alloy consisting of 88% copper and 12% magnesium. It is mainly used for casting and has very good resistance to corrosion.

Low Carbon Mild Steel

A metal alloy made from 99.98% iron and 0.02% carbon. It is very tough and durable and can be shaped and cut with traditional tools.

High Carbon Steel

A metal alloy made from 97.5% iron and 2.5% carbon. It is much harder than low carbon steel.

Anodising

An electrical process of giving aluminium a

decorative coloured coating.

Galvanising

The process of dipping mild steel in hot molten zinc for a

coating.

Wax/Varnish

A wood finish that can provide weather protection and enhance the grain of the wood for a more aesthetically appealing look.

Plastic Coating

The process of heating mild steel and dipping it in polythene powder.