The Design Process is a set of steps that most designers work through when designing.
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1. Design Brief
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The design brief describes the problem – it is a written statement.
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2. Investigation and Research
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This is the process of studying the problem. Learning all about:
- the problem, - the materials you might use, - the equipment you might need to use. It might involve talking to others to get their ideas. |
3. Coming up with possible solutions
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This involves thinking up a series of ideas that are possible solutions and recording them.
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4. Choosing the best solution |
Choosing the best solution from those you have designed.
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5. Making the product/system
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Make the product or system.
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6. Evaluation
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Evaluating the product –
does it solve the problem described in the brief? |
The Design Cycle
This diagram shows the order the design process is completed.
Colour in each step of the design process in the colour it has been labelled.
A Sample Design Brief
You are the props person for the local drama group. In the next play one scene requires an actor to hold up a dead bird that he has just shot. The director has asked you to create this prop – i.e. create a product that will look like a dead bird when held up on stage.
WEBSITE ACTIVITY
Complete the steps in solving this problem – as you complete these steps record your results in the table.
Publish your Design Process on the
"Design Activities" page of your website.
WEBSITE ACTIVITY
Complete the steps in solving this problem – as you complete these steps record your results in the table.
Publish your Design Process on the
"Design Activities" page of your website.
GOOD DESIGN
Like a work of art, the product designed will please some people and not others. Designers can make mistakes.
A poorly designer product may:
WEBSITE ACTIVITY: Answer the following questions in the "Design Activities" page of your website.
A poorly designer product may:
- Not perform the task it was designed to do.
- Be difficult to use.
- Look, feel, or smell disgusting – not be aesthetically pleasing.
- Be harmful to people and/or the environment.
- Be too expensive.
WEBSITE ACTIVITY: Answer the following questions in the "Design Activities" page of your website.
- Make a list of the features of a well designed product.
- Why do you think the following designs were not successful?
- An American doll made in 1952 that came with removable parts – the stomach, heart, and kidneys.
- A vibrating toilet seat. The aim was that the vibrations would prevent constipation.
- A device that enabled people to look inside their own ears.
- The contraption which when tucked inside a babies nappy, played the song, “When the Saints go marching in” when the nappy became wet.