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H1.1 Factors Effecting Design (Wilson)
H1.1 critically analyses the factors affecting design and the development and success of design projects
Applying Factors To the Development of MDP
| Factors Effecting Design | Explanation and Design Example |
| Appropriateness of the Design Solution | A designer must concider the appropriateness of the design solution. It must be suitable for the environemtn in which it is being used. |
| Needs | Needs are thoes things a person must have in order to survive and grow. A Want is something a person would like to have but could live without. Percieved Needs are things that a person feels they must have but it is not essetial to sustain life. Most designs appeal to percieved needs, which go beyond basie needs. Individual Needs Include: Physical Needs: such as food, clothing, shelter, rest exercise and health care. Psychological Needs: such as love and affection, approval and recognition. Socail Needs: Includes realting to others and showing tolerance. Community Needs: These vary from community to community and are influences by the state of the economy and current environmental issues. Marketed Needs and Wants are thoes that have been created through marketing strategies such as advertising. Individuals may feel they must have these marketed products in order to; Belong to a group, Identify with a role model, Be health, Maintin their status or Keep up with their peers. Design Example includes the i-pod and new mobile phones. |
| Personal Values | Values are thoes things we reguard highly and that are important to us. Most people value friendship, a sustainable economy and attaining a certian status. Design Example: In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) gives hope to some couples who value a family of their own and who have failed to concieve throguih normal means. This has conflicting views with some people who have different values and believe that birth should be natural and not from a 'test tube'. |
| Function | A designer must make sure the design works for its intended use. Function may be assessed in respect to the following factors- safety, strength, easeof use, efficiency, simplicity and durability.. etc. Function does not necessarily lead to beauty. For a design example many people may concider road drains functional but not beautiful. Another Design Example my include the glue stick. It is easy to use and works well for its intended use and replaces jars or pots of messy glue. |
| Aesthetics | Aesthetics refer to te beauty of the design. If a design is aesthetically pleasing, This means it looks good or is beautiful. |
| Cost | The cost of the design encompasses many facets, The designer must concider: -Financial costs involved in designing, manufacturing and marketing a product. -Environemntal costs including the impact of product on the environments, the impact of obsolescent prducts on the environment and so on. -Socal costs such as any effect on accepted values or changes to established cultural norms. -Costs may also be short term-(financial) or long-term (environemntal and soical). |
| Ergonomics | Ergonomics is the study of the relationship between people and their physical environment. Designers need to consider the application of their designs for carious personal shapes and sizes. Anthropometry is the study and technique of taking human measurements for use on a comparative or classification basis. Design Example.A designer should consider the use of new tools or machines for both right and left handed operators. The modern day mouse is an example of applying Anthropometry to a product.  |
| Use of Design | This refers to how the design will eb used, who will use ot and any special needs or requirements of the user. Some products are user-friendly while others require a degree of technical expertise to opperate successfully. How a designer perceives their creation being used has a direct impact on the financial design. Design Example. Clothes lines come in many forms depending on the intended use. Examples include plastic camping clothes lines, retractable clothes lines and rotary clothes lines with collapsible arms. |
| Sustainability | If a design uses resources that can be replaced by natural processes in a relatively short space of time,(within the life-time of the average person) such as plantation timber, it is concidered to be using renewable resources and therefore the design is using sustainable resources. Non-sustainable energy sources ( resources) have finite( a limited amount) of reserves, for example, coal, oil and natural gas. These fuels connot be replaced once they are used(or take thousands of years to be replaced). Design Example, The use of solar energy in the Olympic village in the 2000 sydeny Olympics was a significant factor in the design of the village. Sustainable Development can be defined as development that improves the total quality of life both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends. |
| Energy | Energy is used to create, produce, market and consume desings. THe total amount of energy used is dependent on the value of the end product. Design Example energy ratings now on all electrical goods. |
| Recyclability | Recyclablility refers to the ability of an item to be broken down after use to serve as a raw material for new manufactured products. Design Example The galss in a jar can be recycled to make other glass products. |
| Safety and Health | The safety of a design in terms of its production, use and disposal will influece its success. The design should not pose any health hazards throughout its life cycle to the designer, producer or user. |
| Quality | The quality of the design is a major marketing tool. Quality has two dimensions; Level of Quality refers to the ability of a product to proform its function for an acceptable period of time. Consistency of Quality refers to consistently delievering the tageted level of quality to consumers. |
| Durability | The ability of a design to last for its designated life in the situatuion or environment for which it has been targeted is a reflection on its durablility. Some products are classified as non-durable, such as grocery items and single use goods such as disposable gloves. Durable items are products that are used over an extended period of time such as refigerators, cars and houses. |
| Obsolescence | Obsolescence refers to when the design is no longer of any use and must be discarded or recycled. Obselescence my result from a design being no longer fashionable, such as when it is superseded by a better design. Built-in obsolescence or Planned obsolescence is when a product only lasts for a certian time period in order to promote a high turnover. Design Example: This is such as the tooth brush. |
| Life Cycle Analysis | Life cycle analysis refers to the analysis of a design at all stages from conception to disposal (cradel to grave), to determine the total cost in terms of resource usage. The designer may use a life-cycle analysis to predict the short and long term consiquences of the planned design. |
Debate The Issues and Factors in Design and Practice
Designers must take into concideration issues and factors when design products so as to ensure the success or failure of their product. By concidering factors relevant to a design or practice, a designer will then be able to create a product which solves the factors that effect design. Some designs are created with only a few factors concidered (such as the tooth brush-obsolescence, aesthetics, durability and Ergonomics) while others may take all factors into consideration ( such as cars, 'green' houses).
Examples of Success and Failures in Design
Successful Designs
The Black Box Flight Recorder
Dr David Warren, an Australian chemist, decided there was a need to deveolp a device to help investigator work ou what had cause a plane to crash and developed the black box flight recorder in responce to this. He produced a prototype combining a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder but, unfortunently, the Australian Department of Civil Aviation and the RAAF rejected this design. Later the challlange was taken up by British and American Companies.
Today the black box flight recorder is standard equipment on all commreical aeroplanes throughout the world. Hence, while Warren's design was a failure, The final product is a tremendous success. The flight recorder stores information about the aircraft's altitude, speed and direction whilst the voice recorder stores conversations between the pilot, co-pilot and air traffic controllers. Both recorders were origionally black, hence the name, but today they are bright oragnde so they can be easily identified amongst the wreckage.
The Utility or the 'Ute'
The unique Australian utility was designed in 1933 as the direct result of a consumer making a request to the Ford Motor Company to design a car that would be suitable to transport both a family and farm animals. Lewis Bandt designed the utility vehicle based on the Ford Sedan. The passenger part of the vehicle was as comfortable as an ordinary sedan and the read part was open, allowing the user to transport farm equipment and animals. A tarpaulin could also cover the rear part of the vehicle if the customer wanted to protect the load.
The 'ute', as it is commonly refered to, was, and still is, a marketing success. Ford began mass production in 1934 in Victoria and today the ute is probably the most popular vehicle use by Australian Farmers and Tradespeople.
Failures in Design
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/design_technology/
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, Sep 12 2007, 10:16 PM EDT
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