DANotes: Design: Where to from here ?

Where do we go from here ?

The rudimentary design process is a more than adequate prescription for the problems you'll meet in your course and in most of your professional life. Design processes in industry are usually more formal than this, since the design function must be systematised, managed and integrated with other functions such as manufacture. Nonetheless, all professional design processes are based on the rudimentary design process, and the activities which you have learned here are just as vital in more elaborate design schemes. Obviously the sophistication and cost of any design process will reflect the sophistication and cost of the product.
Leading models of the design activity include :

The Pahl and Beitz op cit model is typical of Continental practice and subdivides the design phase into three major areas :
- concept design: search for adaptable solution principles (this is essentially the ideation activity above)
- embodiment design: find suitable hardware within technical and economic constraints (which is just practicalisation)
- detail design: finalise the form, dimensions, materials etc. of individual components.
Commercial design processes require continual review and documentation, and so the progression specification -to- concept -to- preliminary layout -to- definitive layout is brought up short after each stage to allow confirmation before proceeding to the next.
The SEED model (Cross op cit) which is prominent in the UK, envisages Design at the core of product development, surrounded by the requirements of the product's specification and embedded in the constraints of engineering science, economics etc.

These models are somewhat flawed as they emphasise engineering aspects, and do not stress sufficiently the 'people' aspect and the necessity for a designer to find out about all potential reactions to the solution. In spite of their tendency towards regimentation, the models clearly reflect the iterative nature of design.

This is probably a suitable point to put the foregoing lessons into context by quoting Wilson, Kennedy & Trammell op cit who address product development ( the whole idea -to- product transformation ) of which design is but one facet. The authors' conclusions with regard to industry in the US have the same implications in Australia.

without products and services to offer, a company has no reason to exist
the US-made share of global consumer electronics products declined from almost 100% to a mere 5% over 30 years
world class product delivery will be the key enabler in the battle where quality, cost and speed will determine the survivors
US product development efforts are too slow, too expensive, and too often fail to create products with the features, performance and quality that customers want
customers purchase a firm's products only when they find those products to be the most effective in meeting their needs
new products are truly the lifeblood of a company's long-term economic existence
better firms create two and a half times more new products on average than lagging firms.

You will recognise some key elements highlighted earlier - survival, the customer, novelty etc.

After investigating the product development process in many US companies, the authors identify four elements of the process which are essential to success :

control by a single team (collaboration, communication)
vision of the future product (look ahead; anticipate actions, reactions and interactions)
a convergence of information from marketing (the firm's antenna to the outside world) engineering and manufacturing (design must integrate with other functions); and
a continuity in the information collected about critical product characteristics (documentation, feedback &c).

The elements of the rudimentary design process are thus seen to be fundamental (if not sufficient) components of successful design and development processes.

We conclude our examination of design by presenting some advanced considerations which are useful to know about when embarking on professional design.