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Research Specification Designing Evaluation Task Analysis

Making Objs Ass Ext

A design brief is a written explanation - given to a designer - outlining the aims, objectives and milestones of a design project.

A thorough and articulate design brief is a critical part of the design process. It helps develop trust and understanding between the client and designer - and serves as an essential point of reference for both parties.

Above all, the design brief ensures that important design issues are considered and questioned before the designer starts work. It may contain some functional requirements, aesthetics, materials, safety and quality considerations and other design constraints. The brief will guide the designers and help them formulate a performance and marketing specification.

The client is usually the person who has identified the need and provides the brief. It is the responsibility of the designer to work closely with the client to ensure that they get the product they want. It is also crucial designers make use of market research and fully understands the needs and wants of the ‘user’ or ‘customer base’ they are designing for.

In industry designers maybe part of a team, as they are unlikely to have expertise in all areas. In the design of a personal music player such as the IPod, designers would be split into teams working on styling, electronics, software and control systems, ergonomics and interface. These teams may have particular expertise in those areas but may use external consultants.

Another example is in the car industry: the design of a vehicle would be shared among many designers who would be specialists in specific areas, including mechanical engineering (for engine and mechanical systems), software engineering (for engine management and instrumentation), textiles (for seating, carpets, etc.), and so on. Designers of cars would work with production engineers to plan the manufacture but specialist industrial designers would design the machines that make the cars.

Although not mandatory it is suggested that candidates should begin to use A2 size paper for the coursework, as a preparation for the AL project. That being the case the following guide should give a clear indication of the amount of design work which is expected, from the majority of candidates.

(i) Research and analysis - 4 sheets

(ii) Design Brief and specification - 1 sheet

(iii) Design considerations and investigation - 3 sheets

(iv) Generating proposals - 4 sheets

(v) Development details - 2 sheets

(vi) Detail designing - 2 sheets

(vii) Planning/Quality Assurance/Quality Control - 1 sheet

(viii) Evaluation - 2 sheets

These figures are given as an approximate guide only – examiners will assess the design and make task against the published assessment criteria rather than by the number of design sheets or report pages. It is suggested that, as an alternative to including material in the A2 sized design folio, the planning, section and use of materials, evaluation and economic factors (costings) content could form the basis of an A4 project report as described at the end of this resource.

Design and technology should be the subject where mathematical brainboxes and science whizzkids turn their bright ideas into useful products

James Dyson

Task Analysis Introduction

A mind map is a good method to help you analyse the problem in more detail and gives you lots of useful avenues to explore. Remember to be adventurous at this stage, do not forget to write down all thoughts no matter how silly, weird or wacky! These often lead to the most unusual solutions or the best designs and show risk taking which leads to higher grades. We use something called ACCESS FM throughout the design process to help guide our thinking and provide a starting point. You can add your own categories if you think this will help. ACCESS FM stands for aesthetics, consumer, cost, environment, size, safety, function and materials. This model can be used throughout your folder to analyse your research, produce a specification and evaluate your ideas and product.

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Context & Design Task

There is no single "right" way to produce a task analysis page. The pages and examples shown are for guidance only and students are encouraged to layout their pages as you see fit. Hover over the sections of the page for hints and tips…………………………….

In order to help you fully analyse the task follow the steps below

First task is to copy down the context from your chosen task.
List or highlight the key words found within the context.
Copy down your chosen design brief.
List or highlight the key words found within the design brief.
Collect initial images of anything and everything to do with your brief to help inspire you.

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Task Analysis

Key Words

Pro-Design Words

Introduction

Design Task

Personal Statement

Design Philosophy

Conclusion

Pro Design Words

Pro-design words can be used to aid your task analysis and provide you with lots of avenues to explore. You can identify if form is more important than function or vice versa. Click on the presentation icon above and look over the inspiration for a design brief presentation adding onto your task analysis mind-map as you go along. Below are some examples of pro- design words. Research them further and list the most important pro-design words you think will influence your designing.

Ext

Retro

Key Factors that influence the design of a product.

The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' sense.

Pablo Picasso

Materials

Can you think of anything of any other key factors? List them on your task analysis page

What are the key factors that will effect the design of your product?

Key aspects to take into account when designing: it is important when designing products to take several key factors into consideration in order to be successful. The order of these considerations varies according to the design brief or the individual.

Ext

Clever Product Design inspiration

Ext

Lighting Inspiration

Ext

Storage Inspiration

Ext

Nature Inspired Products

Task Analysis

Key Words

Pro-Design Words

Introduction

Design Task

Personal Statement

Design Philosophy

Conclusion

Task Analysis Mind-map

There is no single "right" way to produce a task analysis mind-map. The pages and examples shown are for guidance only and students are encouraged to layout their pages as you see fit. Below only gives you some key aspects that you can explore add more of your own using ACCESS FM to help.

Task Analysis

Possible aesthetics

Possible Product

Possible Consumer

What

Possible location

How

Possible materials

Possible functions

Aesthetics

What do you intend your product to look like?
What colours, styling, patterns do you intend to design your use?
How important are aesthetics?
Is form more important than function?
What theme or inspiration will you use?
Will you carry out market research, research an art movement, a theme, make observations and drawings to inspire you. Collect images?

Consumer

Who do you intend your consumer to be?
Who are you are designing for at this stage or will you determine this as you research or design your product?
How old they are?
What is their profession?
What interests they have?
How much money they earn?
How will you collect information about your target market

Function

Is form more important than function or vise versa?
Will your product be multifunctional? If so why?
What information will you need to research in order to manufacture your product? Make your product work?
Will you need to know about light fittings, electrical components, springs, mechanisms etc?

Materials

You may not know exactly what materials you will be using yet however you should have an idea of the sort of product you will make i.e. Cheap, low quality, high quality, expensive. This will have an effect on what type of materials you will use:

high quality materials such as...
cheap materials such as...

You may also you the sorts of properties different materials have such as thermal etc.

Task Analysis Extension Categories

Can you add any more categories to extend your mind-map even further. Hover over the examples below.

Cost
Environment
Safety
Size
Lifecycle
Packaging
Ergonomics
Anthropometrics
Timescale
Performance
Innovation

Start

AS Assessment Criteria:

Product Analysis and Research

Marks

Detailed product analysis has led to appropriate and well-focused research.

The intended product has been carefully analysed for, 'above' and 'below the line' criteria.

The candidate has demonstrated a thorough understanding of the task ahead and the requirements which have to be met to satisfy the needs of the target audience.

18-20 Marks

A2 Assessment Criteria:

Analyse research and developing a design specification

Marks

Detailed analysis of the design situation has led to appropriate and well-focused research.

Research using ICT where appropriate has been carefully analysed, as a result of which the candidate has demonstrated a thorough understanding of the task and the requirements which have to be met.

Evidence of students' ability to reflect upon their research and analysis and make objective comment on the way forward.

A detailed and relevant specification which displays a hierarchy of measurable criteria which takes account of the relative importance of a wide range of factors which will drive designing.

9-10 Marks

Extension Task:

Read through your task analysis and add images to your mind-map. Look through the pro-design words and add as many as you can to you task analysis mind map.

Lesson Objectives:

To identify a gap in the market place to day and formulate a design brief outlining what you intend to do, design, manufacture, market, test and evaluate.
To analyse and breakdown the task in hand and formulate a research plan outlining what and how you intend to research and why?

You will learn about designers and how design has grown over time in response to what people need and new technology
You will produce a problem and a design brief outlining how you intend to solve that problem
You will identify a research plan highlighting what you intend to look at to help you solve the problem and where you intend to look.

Where

When

Who, Why, What, Where and When

Who will be the intended target user?

Who can I ask to suggest any improvements that can be made to the product?

Who can I ask for help if I need any during the designing, testing and manufacturing stages?

Who are the competitors for the product that I am going to manufacture?

Who will influence the design and manufacture of the product?

Why is the product I am designing and making a solution to the task?

Why are the materials that I am going to use to manufacture the product suitable?

Why is it important to recycle?

Why is sustainability an important issue in today's world?

Why will I need to carry out research and carry out testing on materials?

What is the product that I am going to design and manufacture for a specific target user group?

What will I need to research in order to design and manufacture the product?

What equipment will I need to manufacture the product?

What properties of what materials will I need to test?

What can I recycle to make the product?

When will the project need to be completed by?

When should I start designing the product in order to finish the project within the deadline set?

When should I start to test materials?

When should I make a prototype of the product that I am going to manufacture?

When should I start manufacturing the final product?

Where will I gather relevant research from?

Where will the product be manufactured?

Where can I test possible materials that I could use to manufacture the product?

Where will the product be promoted and marketed?

Where will I obtain the materials that I need in order to manufacture the product?

Conclusion - Checklist

What are the next steps? Do you need to narrow don your research to make it more focused? Do you need to produce a research plan to help formulate your thoughts and give you clear direction?

Identifying a need

Explain the following to define the design situation clearly in words and drawings/photographs:

 what are the aims of the project;

 who is the product intended for, the target audience;

 how often is the product likely to be used;

 where will the product be used;

 will the existing environment affect the design of the product?

Identify user needs

 list all the qualities that you think the intended user may demand of your product;

 undertake market research on your target audience to establish their wants/needs;

 present a comparative analysis of your results.

Design considerations

 explain the design features that you think your product must have;

 assess the importance of a range of design considerations to your design task;

 describe any unique selling points or special features that your product might have.

Research

 identify relevant knowledge and understanding that you will need to help you when designing;

 identify the likely sources of this information;

 include a section in your folio that contains the information that you intend using;

AS Level

A2 Level

Step 1 - Introduction:

This is a statement that should:

describe what activities you are going to carry out and explains why in terms of progressing your coursework.

Say how this will be helpful in your project

Step 2 - The Task:

Here you should include a copy of the design task you have chosen or developed yourself.

You may wish to underline parts of the task that will require analysis in a mind map.

Step 4 - Key words:

List the key words from your design task that you can analyse in your mind-map.
List the key words used in your initial research images that you can analyse in your mind-map.

Step 5 - Pro-design words:

Collect some initial images related to your design Pro-design words can be used to aid your task analysis and provide you with lots of avenues to explore. You can identify if form is more important than function or vice versa.

Using the presentation below research them further and list the words you think you will influence your designing, list them and further analyse them in your mind-map.

Step 6 - Personal Statement:

Write a paragraph about yourself. Try to discuss your interests in terms of Design and Technology as opposed to how many brothers and sisters you have.
Discuss your future plans
Discuss examples of existing design work that you have produced in the past.

Step 7 - Design Philosophy:

Discuss who your favourite fashion designer/product designer/architect/chef is.
Discuss examples of existing design work that you think is good.

Discuss what inspires you when designing and what your priorities are. Is sustainability a priority or is aesthetics more important than functionality?

Step 3 - Initial Research:

Collect some initial images related to your design task.

Analyse images that interest you in your mind-map. For example the characteristics in art deco (zigzags, symmetrical, sunrises).

What materials could you use in the packaging of the product? Are they suitable, could they be used to mass produce your product? Will the materials be environmentally friendly? Will they be able to be recycled or reused at the end of the products life? What symbols and warnings would you include on the packaging? How could you cut down the packaging environmental footprint? Will your product be flat packed? Will this effect the size and transportation costs of your product?

What materials would you use in the manufacture of the product? Are they suitable, could they be used to mass produce your product? Will they be easy to mark out, cut, shape and finish? How will you finish the product? Will the materials need to be environmentally friendly? Will they be recycled or reused at the end of the products life? Could you improve upon your material selection? Does your material selection impact upon the products lifecycle?

What ergonomic considerations will you need to take into account? Are there going to be any components that will need changing such as bulbs or batteries? Will access need to be easy to get to? Does it need colour coded interfaces to explain how to use or interact with the product? Will the product move or need to be moved? What ergonomic considerations will need to be taken into account if this is the case? Do you need to consider SPURC (strength, posture, user group, reach or clearance)?

What anthropometic considerations do you need to take into account? Use SPURC (strength, posture, user group, reach or clearance) to identify the key criteria that you will need to consider to design a successful product.

What percentile do you need to take into consideration? 5th, 50th or 95th percentile range?

Anthropometrics is the study of body measurements and statistical data concerning the sizes and shapes of the population.
Ergonomics is the relationship between a product and its users.
All people fall into the 5th, 50th and 95th anthropometric percentile range.
User group, posture, clearance, reach and strength are all important factors in anthropometrics and ergonomics.

What timescale are you working with? Are there any special considerations that you must take into account:

Material delivery time
Testing and prototyping
Time to laser cut, 3D print, manufacture?
Gluing time?
Finishing time (i.e. Sanding, sealing etc)?
Finish drying time?

Can you estimate time scales for the main activities you think you will need to undertake?

Do you have opportunities to build in contingencies?

What performance criteria can you identify in order to test how successful your product is? For example how well the function of a product is executed. In the case of a lamp, performance could be measured is by evaluating the spread of light produced. Maximum weight could be identified, strength, durability? How can you identify consumers performance needs? How will you end test the performance of your prototype?

What innovative features can you include in the design of your product? What can you include to give your design the edge? What is your interpretation of innovation. Look at your pro-design words such as modular, multi-functional, foldable, flat packed etc.

What price range will your product fall into? Will it be expensive, cheap, mid range, if so why? What materials, processes and finishes will you use, does this reflect the cost? Will the cost reflect the quality of the product? Will the cost of your product a result of what manufacturing processes (mass produced, batched produced, one off) you will use to commercially produce it? What will your potential consumer expect to get for their money?

How will the product effect the environment: When it will be made (manufacturing process): materials used, energy used? When its being used, will it give off any emissions or pollution? When it is disposed of, will it be recyclable, will it be able to be reused? How will you reduce the products carbon footprint?

How safe will the product be to use? What are the dangers of using your product (sharp edges, toxic paints, electric components, weight etc.) How will you make it safe for the intended user (example;. “all electrical components will be housed in a waterproof casing or raised”)? How will you reduce the risk of injury?

How big will the product generally going to be? How big will certain parts of your product be? Will you make it adjustable? How big do you potential consumers expect the product to be? Are there any critical sizes you must take into consideration? If space is limited how will you maximise this?