The Design and Manufacturing Project: Process and Portfolio

Running your design project

The design and manufacturing project is worth half of the whole course, so knowing how to run it well matters more than almost anything else. This module works through the project from start to finish: - The portfolio: analysing the brief, research, the specification, ideas and planning.\n- The making: turning a design into a quality prototype, safely.\n- Testing and evaluating: judging the outcome against the requirements.\n- Evidence: recording every stage so the thinking is visible. The design-process theory and the drawing and systems content are covered in other modules. Here the focus is running and documenting the assessed project.

Words for the design project

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match each project stage to what you produce

The portfolio against the making

The project has two connected halves. The portfolio captures the thinking; the making turns that thinking into a real product. Both are marked.

What goes in the specification?

A student is writing the specification for their project. What should it contain?

• The exact requirements the product must meet, such as size, cost and function
• A finished evaluation of the made product
• A single first idea with no detail
• The examiner marks for the project

Tap the two things that belong in the portfolio

Tap the TWO things that belong in the design portfolio.

• Research into users and existing products
• A developed design with annotated models
• A marking sheet kept by the teacher
• A shop receipt for lunch

Making safely and to quality

The making stage is where a design becomes real, and it is judged on both safety and quality of finish. Choose the right tools and materials for the job, and follow your plan in a sensible order. Work safely at all times: wear the correct protection, keep guards in place on machines, and ask for help rather than rushing something that feels unsafe. As you go, check your work against the design, measuring and adjusting so the prototype is accurate and well finished. A careful maker produces a product that both works and looks the part.

Pick the true facts about the project

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• The specification is written before making begins
• Testing checks whether the product meets its requirements
• The portfolio is only a photograph of the finished item
• Safety can be ignored to save time

Order the stages of the design project

Put the stages of the design and manufacturing project in a sensible order.

• Analyse the brief and the need
• Research users and existing products
• Write a clear specification
• Generate and develop ideas
• Plan and make the prototype, then test and evaluate it

One project, start to finish

Follow how one student worked through a whole project to make a desk tidy for a busy home.\n\nUnderstanding the task: she started from the problem she was set, then researched who would use it and what similar products already offered. Setting the targets: she wrote a list of clear requirements, covering size, cost, materials and how it would be used. Developing the idea: she sketched several options, made simple card models, gathered feedback, and refined her favourite into a workable design. Making and checking: she planned the order of work, made the item safely, then tested it and judged the result against her list of requirements, noting what worked and what she would improve. By recording every stage in her folder, she showed not just the finished item but the thinking behind it.

Complete the project facts

A short statement of the problem to solve is the design _____. The list of exact requirements the product must meet is the _____. The working product made to test the design is the _____. Judging how well the product meets its requirements is the _____.

Build a point about the project

Choose the words that complete this statement about the design project.

The design project run

Five questions on the design and manufacturing project. Three lives.

Manage the project well

Read each situation and choose the best course of action, then think about why.

• A student wants to start making before writing a specification. What is the risk?
• A student has a single idea and wants to build it straight away. What is better practice?
• Partway through making, a tool feels unsafe to use. What should the student do?

Explain how to run a design and make project

A student in the year below is about to start their design and make project. Explain how to run it well using what this module has covered.

• Explain what a design brief and a specification are
• Explain how to research and develop ideas
• Explain how to plan and make the prototype safely
• Explain how testing and evaluation are used
• Finish by explaining why a portfolio records the whole process