Engineering Design Methods Test 1 Review

Dieter & Schmidt (2013) Design Definition

Design is pulling together something new, or arranging existing things in a new way, to satisfy a recognized societal need.

Ulrich & Eppinger (2016) Design Definition

Product development runs from perceiving a market opportunity through production, sale, and delivery.

Simplified design definition

The plans to make something.

Four Cs of Design

Creativity • Complexity • Choice • Compromise

Design process

Iterative: results from later phases often require revisiting earlier decisions

Types of Design: Original

Create a new solution

Types of Design: Adaptive

Modify an existing design for different needs

Types of Design: Variant

Change configuration or dimensions within an existing design family.

Types of Design: Selection

Choose an existing solution or component for an application

4 Types of Design

Original, Adaptive, Variant, Selection

Code

laws/rules protecting general welfare and preventing injury or property damage.

Standard

agreed procedures, criteria, dimensions, materials, or parts.

Performance Code

States outcome to achieve

Prescriptive code

states specific required details

Benefits of codes/standards

efficiency, safety, interchangeability, compatibility

Standards Organizations

ASME, ISO, IEEE, APA, and SAE

Environmentally Responsible Design

• 1. Easy to disassemble

• 2. Able to be recycled

• 3. Contains recycled materials

• 4. Uses identifiable and recyclable plastics

• 5. Reduces use of energy and natural materials in its manufacture

• 6. Manufactured without producing hazardous waste

• 7. Avoids use of hazardous materials

• 8. Reduces product chemical emissions

• 9. Reduces product energy consumption

Brand

Non-tangible set of meanings, symbols, promises, trust and expectations associated with a product

Brand identity

What the company intends its brand to represent.

Brand image

What customers actually perceive.

Emotional bonding

Customers seek emotional meaning or attachment beyond functional benefits.

ABCs of branding

Attributes, Behavior, Circumstances

Brand positioning

How a brand is differentiated and perceived relative to competitors.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking compares an organization’s practices or products with best-in-class companies, including companies outside its industry. It helps identify improvement opportunities and establish performance metrics.

Four sources of resistance to Benchmarking

fear of looking like copiers; fear of giving away competitive advantages; arrogance; impatience

Project Brief

the starting statement or document describing the desired project, problem, or opportunity.

Project Scope

statement of work specifying the project description (objective statement), key goals, primary market, secondary market, assumptions, and stakeholders

Objective statement

“The objective of this project is to…”

Primary market

Main intended users or purchasers.

Secondary market

Other possible users or applications

Assumptions

Conditions assumed to make the project feasible.

Stakeholders

People or groups who use, build, purchase, maintain, fund, or are affected by the product

Scope creep

Expansion of agreed project work or objectives

Feature creep

Accumulation of additional product functions/features

Customer Types

end users, purchasers, manufacturers, assemblers, maintainers, managers, and others affected by the design.

Stakeholder Types

Investors, Decision-Makers, Advisers, Receivers

Need Statements

describe what the product does, not how; be specific; phrase positively; describe product attributes; avoid “must” and “should.”

General Process to Identify Customer Needs

define scope; gather customer data (Ask about typical use, likes, dislikes, purchasing concerns, and desired improvements); synthesize needs; organize needs; rank importance; reflect and refine.

Things not to do when identifying Needs

Avoid assuming customer intentions, becoming defensive, leading interviews, or discussing technologies before functions.

Kanos Four Requirement Levels

1. 1. Expecters: Basic features taken for granted

2. 2. Spokens: Features explicitly requested

3. 3. Unspokens: Important but not usually mentioned

4. 4. Exciters/delighters: Unexpected features that distinguish the product

Functional Decomposition

breaking a complex system, procedure, or process into smaller functional parts. Ask: “WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO?”

Functional Decomposition DOES

Describe physical actions, Describe outcomes, Break the overall function into subfunctions

Functional Decomposition Doesn’t

Specify solutions, Specify components, Specify equations

Recursive design

the design process can be repeated for smaller units of the system

Synthesis

combine functions and candidate solutions into an integrated system

Task Analysis

breaking a complex process into SEQUENTIAL STEPS

Metric

How a function will be validated (e.g., force, temperature, pressure, user opinion).

Target

Specific value of a metric to design around (e.g., 10 N, 1080p, 10⁻⁴ torr).

Performance measure

Directly quantifiable and reproducible, such as length or temperature.

Psychological measure

Harder to quantify: comfort, personality, mental workload, learning.

Objective measure

Instrumentation/validation: wheel speed, yaw rate, azimuth.

Subjective Measure

Human judgment: test drivers, expert panels, surveys.

Brainstorming

Organized, rapid, free-flowing idea generation; defer criticism early.

Concept map

Central problem with connected branches of related ideas and subtopics

Sensitivity

Recognize that a problem exists

Fluency

Generate many alternative solutions

Flexibility

Generate different approaches to the same problem

Originality

Generate novel solutions

Mental block

Barrier that prevents perceiving a problem or conceiving a solution.

Design space

Set of all possible designs

Generative design

Generate many feasible candidates satisfying the design specification

Morphological analysis

1.       Break the overall problem into subproblems/functions.

2.       Generate alternative solutions for each function.

3.       Combine alternatives systematically and evaluate complete concepts.

Combination count for Morphological analysis

Combination count = multiply the number of alternatives for each function. Lecture example (5 functions with 4 alternatives each): 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 × 4 = 1,024 possible combinations.

Garvin’s eight dimensions of quality

1. 1. Performance: Does the product perform its primary job well?

2. 2. Features: What additional useful functions are included?

3. 3. Reliability: How often does it fail?

4. 4 Conformance: Does it meet specified requirements?

5. 5. Durability: How long will it last?

6. 6. Serviceability: How easy is it to maintain or repair?

7. 7. Aesthetics: How does it look, feel, or sound?

8. 8. Perceived Quality: What quality does the customer infer from reputation and experience?

Human Factors

study human capabilities and limitations to design systems that are SAFE, PRODUCTIVE, and SATISFYING

Three schools of thought of Human factors vs Ergonomics

1.       Human factors and ergonomics are synonymous terms.

2.       Human factors focuses on cognitive issues; ergonomics focuses on physical issues.

3.       Ergonomics is a subcomponent of the broader human factors field.

Three Ergonomic layout Approaches

Average user	Easy reference but may fit few actual users well.
Extreme user	Useful when one population extreme controls the design.
Range of users	Accommodates a broad population, often through adjustability; common best practice.

Nielsen’s Heuristics

Heuristic	Easy example to remember
1. Simple and natural dialogue	Remove unnecessary interface clutter.
2. Speak the user’s language	Use familiar words and symbols.
3. Minimize memory load	Make options visible rather than requiring recall.
4. Consistency	Use the same icon for the same action.
5. Feedback	Show “Saved successfully.”
6. Clearly marked exits	Provide Undo or Cancel.
7. Shortcuts	Keyboard shortcut for experienced users.
8. Good error messages	Explain what went wrong and how to fix it.
9. Prevent errors	Disable submission when required fields are missing.
10. Help and documentation	Provide accessible contextual help.

System

interacting parts working toward a common objective. Systems thinking considers the WHOLE and its interactions, not just individual parts.

Analytical approach

break into parts → study parts → recombine.

Systems Approach

identify the wider system and objective → derive requirements for the parts

V-model

Level	Left side: define	Right side: test
Product	Quantitative product targets	Product testing and validation
Subsystem	Subsystem target specifications	Subsystem integration and verification
Component	Detailed technical targets	Component testing and verification