Topic 1: The Design Process

1. problem statement

2. understand the problem

3. define the problem - problem specification

4. ideate

5. select - concept description

6. prototype

7. analyse

8. test

9. implement - design documents

what are the steps in the design process

• stakeholders

• benchmarking

• user requirements

• constraints and controls

• system requirements

what do we need to be aware of when formulating a problem specification

• performance

• quality

• aesthetics

• interface with other systems

• effectiveness

• serviceability

• reliability

• maintainability

what are examples of user requirements

• legal aspects

• material requirements

• manufacturing

• life-cycle

• schedule

• logistics

what are examples of controls and constraints

• operating environments

• human factors

• cultural aspects

• environmental considerations

what are examples of system requirements

• brainstorming

• functional decomposition

• morphological analysis

what are ways we can form new ideas

1. brain dump phase

2. idea trigger phase

3. compilation phase

what are the phases of brainstorming

1. defer judgement

2. encourage wild ideas

3. build on the ideas of others

4. stay focused on the topic

5. one conversation at a time

6. be visual

7. go for quantity

what are the rules of brainstorming

• Plus → positive points of the concept

• Minus → negative effects/attributes of the concept

• Interseting → implications of why it is positive or negative

how do we use Plus/Minus/Interesting in our concept selection

1. decide on a criteria which should be used to evaluate the designs

2. rank the importance of each criteria with respect to the other criteria

3. assess each concept against each criteria

4. determine the overall rating for each design

5. select the best concept based on the highest rating

how do we use the Mutli-Attribute Rating Technique

• focused

• not overly complicated

• answers a question

  • how well will this idea work?

  • will users accept it?

  • can we build it? etc.

• testing

what makes a good prototype

• focused

• not overly complicated

• answers a question

  • what size?

  • how much power?

  • how secure is it?

  • how many parts?

  • how fast will it be? etc.

• maths

what makes a good analysis

part with the greatest risk to the success of the project

→ prototype/analyse/test this first

what is the Most Critical Module (MCM)