Product Design: How to successfully complete your design project - Design thinking, analysis and specification.

• Identifying design opportunities involves spotting problems or needs that can be improved through design
• A design brief clearly describes the problem, goals, and specific requirements of the project
• Research involves gathering information on similar products, useful materials, and market needs
• Analysing existing products helps understand what works well and what does not
• A design specification lists criteria for the product, including form, function, and sustainability

This section is relevant for students embarking on their design and manufacturing project and pursuing Option C: Product Design pathway.

Identifying design opportunities is about spotting problems or needs that can be fixed or improved through design. It is looking at everyday things and asking, 'What could work better?' or 'What is missing?' This step helps you figure out what your design needs to do and sets you up to come up with creative ideas that solve the problem or make life easier.

A design brief is a clear description of the problem or need that your design project aims to solve. It explains what the product should do, who it is for and any specific requirements or limitations (like size, materials or budget).The design brief guides your entire project by setting clear goals and ensuring your design meets the needs of the user or client. It is like a roadmap for your project, helping you stay on track from start to finish. Start with a comment like 'I plan to design and manufacture…'

Research and analysis is all about gathering information to help you solve the design problem.

First, you need to research anything related to the problem you are working on — this could include products that are similar to the one you want to create, materials or technologies that might be useful. Analyse existing products to see what works well and what does not, and consider market needs to understand what people want or need from a product like yours. This research helps you make informed decisions and come up with the best solution.

It is important for designers to know what is currently available on the market from theircompetitors. It is valuable for them to know what is already out there, the varying functions, differing prices and customer opinions.

Questions to consider:

• Who are the competitors and what products do they already sell?
• What are the current trends?
• What are the price variations? Are they value for money?
• Which products are good and which are bad? What could be done to make a new product different and better?
• What are the responses from customer reviews?
• What other products could influence the prototype? Designers may take inspiration from the mechanisms of one product and introduce it into the product that they are designing.
• What materials, components and fixings have been used? A product disassembly could be beneficial to explore the components inside.
• What have designers done in the past that was successful or unsuccessful?

Existing products can be viewed online; however, looking and physically handling products enables designers to experience the products as users would, which is valuable for the iterative design process. These findings can be used to inform the design specification.

Designers and design companies

It can sometimes be helpful to look wider than direct competitors. There are a variety of past and present designers and design companies who have become known for a particular style or approach to design.

A design brief is a short statement that identifies what a designer plans to do, for whom, where it should be used and why they have decided to follow this route - for example, ‘to design a workspace for a teenager’s bedroom to encourage them to revise and help them to achieve top marks in their exams’.

A design specification is a list of criteria your product needs to address. Using the design brief as a starting point for research, a specification can be written when more facts are known. Information needs to be found through research.

The statements need to be technical, measurable and justified as this then allows them to be used to evaluate the success of the prototype as it is being designed, developed and manufactured through the design process.

Consider the following when creating a specification point:

1. Make a statement that the product must do.
2. Back it up with numerical data (measurements, quantity etc).
3. Justify why points 1 and 2 are important to the product.

Example: ‘The product must fold away to fit in the cupboard underneath a bedside cabinet (540 mm × 400 mm × 450mm) so that it can be stored easily in the customer’s compact and cluttered room.’
This statement has been produced from research into the average dimensions of a bedside cabinet, it can be used to easily test the prototypes developed later, and it is justified, providing reasons about why it is important to the user.

Design specifications should consider:

• form - the way that something looks, also called aesthetics
• function - what the product will do
• user requirements - what the user needs from the product
• performance requirements
• material and component requirements - what the product should be made from and the components needed to ensure it functions correctly
• scale of production - how the product is to be manufactured
• cost - affordability, value and profit margins
• maintenance - how the product will be maintained to ensure continued use
• sustainability - minimising the impact on the environment