1.2 Stages of the iterative design process

Phases of the design cycle

Identify phase

Design phase

Optimise phase

Validate phase

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What happens at completion of each phase

At the completion of each phase the designer can review the development of the product to ensure it meets the design brief, is in line with client and user requirements and is still on track to be completed on time within budget

Why designers use iterative design process

To give structure and secret to the process of creating a new product. By defining the structure, designers, Kennan, sure they have all the information they need at each stage of disciple, avoid costly and time-consuming, telling you to design.

Designers do not follow such an organised process. They were spending large amounts of time developing a product that doesn’t mean the expectations of the client user or target market. They may then have to return to early stages of the cycle to make changes which would make the design process, less efficient and result in delays.

Target market

Group of people at him, the product being developed is aimed

Identify Phase

The first phase of the design cycle:

* Insures the designer has a clear understanding of the requirement of the design brief
* Define is client and use and needs by carry out research
* Considers the process to be fully throughout the development of the design(process planning)

What does the identify phase do for the designer?

For the designer, this phase confirms client and use expectations of the completed product and gives them an understanding of the market and which competitor products already exist. It also allows the designer to define the scope of the project, taking inconsideration both design and manufacturing processes, as well as cost of product development to ensure it can be completed on time and within budget

Manufacturing process

Stages through which raw materials gay in order to be transformed into a product

Analysis of the design brief

A design brief is either supplied by the client or developed as a collaboration between a client in the designer. It’s set out requirements for the product that is going to be designed. It also describes the problem that needs to be solved and include the main features or characteristics. The product must have to be successful.

This includes:

What is the product must do

Who will use the product?

What decline expect from the product?

If these requirements are not clearly defined, the designer could easily begin to develop a product that is not fit for purpose

Carrying out research

It allows the designer to explore and confirm the needs of decline in user, and therefore insure the product to meet those requirements.

If a designer produced to design without fashion, research and client and user needs, they can make decisions about the product that were incorrect,

Research is also important, so the designer can find out what the product needs in order to function as required

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What and why should you carry out research

First, the designers should consider issues such as where the product will be used( the working environment) and how the user will hold or interact with the product (ergonomics)

They could search for materials are available. What components could be used or what products currently exist on the market that offer similar solutions

By carrying out research early in the design cycle, it is possible to make informed decisions about the design of the products such as how did geometry of the product will allow certain materials or manufacturing processes to be used

Working environment

Place where a product will be use or situated during operation

Components

Parts or elements of a larger assembly

Geometry

Shape of an object

Types of research

Primary and secondary research

Primary research

Gathering original information firsthand- for example, carrying out, interviews, experiments, questionnaires and surveys

Examples of primary research

Questionnaires

Surveys

Focus groups

Interviews

Primary research advantages

It provides current, up-to-date information that is specific to the designer or company, and this can get the company an advantage over competitors

Primary research disadvantages

It can also be time consuming to complete, if the number of people questioned, surveyed or interviewed. Is it loud enough, the results can be misleading. (Biased)

Secondary research

Gathering information from sources that already exist- for example, using Books, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet

Examples of secondary research

Books, magazines

The Internet

Published statistics

Existing products

Datasheets- for example, material information

Advantages of secondary research

It can be gathered easily, quickly and cheaply, compared with primary research

Disadvantage of secondary research

It is unlikely to provide information that is specific to the designers, client or use it may also be out of date and because it is often uses freely available information and they not provide a competitive advantage

Market research

Process of gathering information about the needs and preferences of potential customers

Designer made gather information about the market by using focus groups or distributing surveys

Focus groups

Group of people invited to discuss their views and opinions on there wants, needs and preferences for a new product

Given prototypes to review, asked for their thoughts on existing products or asked about what they would like to see included in future products

Disadvantages of focus groups

The focus group may become a stereotype of the perceived target market

Stereotypes can be misleading and not reflect the true nature of the target to market

If the range of people in the group is too narrow, this may lead to fewer new ideas and suggestions and could limit the scope of the future market

At the same time if the group is too broad opinions gathered, may not reflect the actual needs of future users

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It can be difficult to ensure the group is made up of appropriate people and that it is inclusive and provides a range of opinions

Prototype

Model of a component or product created either in a software, package or physically that can be used to test or check the design

Surveys

Tool Used to gather data from particular groups of people that will inform the direction of a design.

Results can be used to define target market

Changing consumer trends

The consumer trend is a pattern that occurs in the sales of particular products, or in the behaviour of consumers

A product that is currently in trend will be extremely popular on market and say generate higher sales

Consumer trends, changing, evolve in class, a different periods of time. It is important that designers and companies understand current consumer trends and how they may change in the future.

If a new consumer trend can be predicted, companies can take advantage by developing and releasing new products are the best time to ensure maximum sales

Trend

Pattern of change that can be used to predict how the demands of a market or developing

Ergonomics and anthropometric

Designers will often use tables of data called anthropometric data sharing measurement of the typical human body when designing to ensure that products are correct size for the user they are being designed for

Analysis of existing products

Designers often look at competitors products to gain a greater understanding of what is currently selling well, what features they include, and where there are opportunities for improvement.

Analysis of competitors designs may take place so that strengths and weaknesses can be identified.

They can try to create an improved product and gain a competitive advantage when it launches onto the market

Aesthetics

How well products appeals to the senses

ACCESS FM

Aesthetic

Cost

Customer

Environment

Size

Safety

Material

Using these, it is possible to research product, systematically and compare the relative strength and weaknesses across a range of similar products

Product disassembly

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Designers will often consider how existing products have been manufactured, and the material they are made from and use this information to inform their own designs

They may carry products this assembly- this involves **taking the product apart to examine the materials, parts and components that have been used** to produce it

Process planning

We’re all activities required to complete the development of a new products are defined of timescales, assigned to ensure the products can be delivered on time and within budget

Design phase

The second phase of the design cycle, where the designer:

* users all the information they have gathered to create a design specification
* Carries out the physical design ion the product
* Creates detailed engineering drawings and manufacturing plans for the product

Production of an engineering design specification

Once the designer has gained a clear understanding of the design brief and has carried out research to define client and user needs, they then use the information they have gathered to produce an engineering design specification

Design specification

**Detailed document that defines all the criteria required for a new product**

Created at this stage because it provides information about the physical design of the product

It provides a set of guidelines that the designer can follow and refer back to throughout the design process, to ensure the design Is in line with these

Generating a range of ideas

Solving a design problem

a designer generates a range of initial design ideas that explores lots of different solutions to the design challenges and possible variations to the design- **concept sketching**

In order to generate these design ideas quickly, a designer will tend to use free hand 2D and 3D stetches

Sketches:

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Advantage of sketches

Quick, easy, cost-effective to produce and modify

Can easily be shared with the client and user to gain feedback on the design

Do not require expensive software packages or time- consuming 3D modelling processes

Concept sketching

Producing drawings quickly and often by hand in order to explore initial ideas

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Using computer software to develop designed for new products or components

This refines images

Focus on a more visually accurate representation of the product or on working out how a mechanism or particular function of the product works.

Mechanism

Set of components that work together in a product to carry out a function

Selection and justification of chosen designs

Generates a wide range of design ideas, the designer can consult the client to select those they prefer and those that are most suitable baste on time and budget

A designer will consider a wide range of criteria to justify which are selected for more detailed development:

* in consumer products, aesthetics is usually important to ensure successful sales, so this may be one of the main reasons a design is selected for further development
* The cost of the manufacturing process or the performance of the chosen design ie strength and weight

Presentation of chosen design

The way in which a design is presented to a client should help them understand how a product will function and what it will look like

More detailed 3D CAD models would be produced at this stage:

* For presentations on aesthetics, this allows the designer to produce rendered imagery that showcases the product with accurate materials, finish and lighting
* for engineering solutions, this allows the designer to work out the key characteristics of the component or product (for example, weight or volume) which can be used to inform calculations about performance
* Where products are made of multiple components, initial assembly models can be produced that show how all the components fit together. These models can be presented to the client as an exploded assembly design, which demonstrates how all components fit together.

Rendered imagery

Photorealistic computer- generated images of products

Assembly

Putting together components to make a completed product (if the resulting product is to be incorporated into a larger product, it is called sub-assembly)

Exploded assembly

A drawing where the components of a product are drawn slightly separated from each other and suspended in space to show their relationship or the order of assembly; also known as an exploded view

Development of planning and engineering drawings

At all stages of the design process, it is essential to consider how the component or product will be manufactured

For a design to be engineered and manufactured correctly, the size and shape of the components need to be designed so that they are suitable for the chosen manufacturing process

Once the overall design has been finalised and approved by the client, the designer will begin to produce the final engineering drawing for each component, ensuring that each component has the appropriate geometry, dimensions and features.

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Engineering drawing

Type of technical Drawings that details the geometry, dimensions and features of a component or product

Manufacturing plans

Detailed documents that set out the material requirement, production quantity, production set up and process and timescales for making a product

Alongside engineering drawings the designer will work with the manufacturer to develop plans for how the components and product will be produced

To maximise efficiency and cost-effectiveness of manufacture, a designer should consider this early in the design process.

This scale of production will have an impact on which process is suitable ie. Injection moulding has a large upfront cost for tooling and but it then enables large quantities to be made at relatively low cost per unit

Getting components or products to a position where they are ready to be manufactured is also a time consuming process. It includes setting up machinery, acquiring materials and creating tooling such as mould tools or jigs and fixtures . The longer this process, the longer it takes for the product to reach the market

This is where the optimise stage of the design cycle is used to test and improve the design too short is ready for large-scale find no manufacture. If equations cost both time and money, so it is important to ensure designs are correct at the earliest opportunity.

Scale of production

Number of products to be produced to meet demands or by certain production process- eg one-off, batch or mass production

Tooling

Manufacturing equipment needed to produce a component, such as cutting tools, dies, gauges, moulds or patterns

Jigs and fixtures

Tools used in manufacturing to ensure components are placed or held accurately so that can be replicated consistently

Test of proportions

Checking that the relationship between the size of different parts of a product are correct or attractive

Test of scale(product)

Checking that the overall dimensions of the products are correct or attractive

Test of function

Checking that the product works or operates in a proper or particular way

Modelling/ producing a prototype

Once the designer has generated a range of designs in selected ones that they feel like most suitable, they can start making them

They do this three modelling and creating a Proto type of a component or product which can be virtual and or physical. Designers, usually do this in the optimise invalidate phases of the design cycle to check that the product looks, and feels right(to test proportions and scale for example) and to confirm that the product operate and performance is required (to test function)

Optimise phase