La Salle College Design & Technology Design Process Design can be defined as a problem-solving activity. This activity starts from a concept (the formation of ideas) and ends with the production of an artifact (making of product). The aim of design is to improve our living, The following procedure is a general way for design. It is known as the Design Process. DESIGN PROCESS 1, SITUATION (Identification of needs) It is important to understand exactly what the problem is at the beginning, It may be a need or a problem that affects only a few persons, For example, equipment for the disabled. Or it may be something that affects many people. For example, chairs in a waiting room, 2, DESIGN BRIEF We must have a clear statement of the problem that we aa nacone are going to solve. It will help us to remember the this oroblem problem exactly, This statement is called the Design Brief. It must be short and complete. 3, SPECIFICATIONS (DESIGN LIMITS) ‘Then we have to list out the requirements related to the problem. For example, the time allowed, cost affordable, materials available, etc. All these limitations affect our design. We should always aim at the design brief and specifications when tackling the problem, ‘The specifications may be expressed in the form of checklist questions or a chart called “Consideration 4, RESEARCH After we have a clear design brief and specifications, we may now collect the information that may help us. to solve the problem. We need to study the questions listed in the Specifications stage and they may lead to further questions for us to think about. We need to collect information for answering these questions. We will be able to collect information from libraries, interviews, questionnaires, market research, and even by observation. 125. 6. SOLUTION This stage may be divided into three parts: © Initial Ideas We can now start thinking the designs, with the help of the information collected. It can be done at anytime and anywhere but we need to write and sketch our ideas on paper or we will easily forget them, It is advised to design as many ideas as possible since the first idea may not be the best. However, you need to set a deadline for this stage. * Development of Ideas After the deadline for initial ideas, we should start considering and modifying the ideas. Sometimes, we may need to give up those ideas which are inapplicable and modify those seem workable. ‘We may need to collect further information, © Final solution ‘Then we choose the final solution among the developed ideas. It should probably be able to solve the problem because we are going to spend time and money to make it. Afterwards, we have to make working drawings with detail dimensions and notes showing all information about the final solution clearly. Sometimes, we may need the help of a mock-up or prototype. REALIZATION “Realization” means “making it real” and in which the final solution on drawing paper will be tured into a real product. We have to make the product according to the working drawings and with a good planning, for which you may need the help of a Working Schedule. This stage may take a longer time than others. TESTING After the realization, we need to test whether our design has really solved the problem. With a checklist, we should carry out test and/or ask opinion of other people. We may need to make small alterations to our design, or perhaps start again EVALUATION Finally, even if our design has solved the problem, we still need to find out its good and bad points and make suggestions for improvement. We may refer to the 22 specifications and evaluate our product. This is the last but also an important stage.