CCEA GCSE Technology and Design

The stages of the design process

Designing a product is organised into stages, although a real project may use only some of them and does not move through them in a straight line. The usual stages, in order, are spotting a design opportunity, researching it, writing a brief and then a specification, generating and developing ideas, making the product, and finally testing and evaluating it.

A design opportunity is a need or problem that a product could solve, such as people struggling to carry shopping up stairs or a school needing somewhere to store bicycles. Spotting it often comes from watching how people behave or from a complaint about something that already exists.

Research gathers what the designer needs to know before drawing anything. Primary research is collected first-hand, for example by interviewing users, observing how they use a similar product or measuring them. Secondary research uses existing sources such as books, websites, catalogues and the analysis of products already on sale. Research covers who the product is for (the target market), what it must do, what materials and processes are suitable and what rival products offer.

The brief is a short statement of what is to be designed, for whom and for what purpose. It stays general enough to leave room for ideas, so "a storage product for a student's desk" is a brief where "a pine box with two drawers" is not.

The specification is a list of the requirements the final product must meet, drawn from the research. Each point is written so it can later be checked: a size limit, a maximum cost, the people it must suit, safety requirements, the finish, the materials, how it is to be used and how it should look. The specification is what the finished product is judged against.

Idea generation and development is where the designer produces a range of different concepts, usually as quick annotated sketches, then picks one or two and improves them. Development tests ideas in models, refines sizes and joins, and settles materials and manufacturing methods.

Manufacture is planning and making the product or a prototype, with working drawings, a list of materials and an order of working.

Testing and evaluation checks the made product against the specification, by testing it in use and by gathering opinions from the people it is for. The results lead to modifications.

Why the process is not linear

Evaluation of an early idea may show that the research missed something, so the designer returns to research. A mock-up made during development may show that the specification asked for something impossible, so the specification is changed. Manufacture can reveal that a joint is too hard to cut, which sends the designer back to the design. The process is therefore a loop with many shortcuts back, and a designer expects to go round some parts of it several times.

Ergonomics and aesthetics

Ergonomics is the study of how people fit and use products: the sizes of the human body, the force a person can apply, the reach and posture involved, and the comfort and safety of use. A kettle handle sized for an average hand, a chair back that supports the spine and a control placed where a thumb falls naturally are all ergonomic decisions. Poor ergonomics shows as discomfort, strain, mistakes or accidents.

Aesthetics is how a product looks, feels, sounds and sometimes smells, and how it appeals to the senses. It includes shape, colour, texture, finish and proportion. Aesthetics influences whether people want a product, and it may be tied to a brand's identity.

Analysing an existing product means asking how each feature affects both. A knurled or rubber-coated grip is chosen for ergonomic reasons (it stops the hand slipping) but also changes the look. A bright colour on a fire extinguisher is aesthetic and also a safety decision, because the product has to be found quickly.

Methods of communication

Designers use different ways of communicating depending on who the audience is and what stage the work has reached.

Freehand sketching needs little equipment, and thick and thin lines, shading and annotation turn a sketch into a record of why a choice was made. Presentational drawings trade speed for impact, so they are saved for ideas that have already been chosen. Working drawings follow drawing conventions so that anyone reading them gets the same dimensions, which is why they are drawn to a stated scale, show hidden detail and name the material.

A mock-up is the cheapest way of finding out whether a handle is too small or a case is too bulky, because it is quicker to rebuild in card than in metal. A computer model goes further, since the same file can be rendered as a realistic picture, tested against other parts in an assembly and sent to a CNC machine.

Mood boards do not describe a product's construction at all. They communicate feeling, which is why they come near the start, when a designer is settling on colours, materials and style for a particular group of customers.