The Design Process and Communication

From a need to a made product

Technology and Design begins with a need and works towards a product that meets it, and along the way a designer has to show ideas to other people. The design process moves from spotting a design opportunity, through research, a brief and a specification, to generating and developing ideas, making the product, and testing and evaluating it. Two ideas guide every design: ergonomics, making a product fit the human body and be comfortable to use, and aesthetics, how it looks and appeals. Designers communicate their ideas in many ways, from a quick freehand sketch to a precise working drawing, a mood board, a physical model or a computer-aided design. This module covers the design process, ergonomics and aesthetics, and how designs are communicated, and it treats the process as non-linear, so findings can send you back a step.

Design words

Learn what each of these means before you use it.

Presentational against working drawing

Two kinds of drawing that do very different jobs.

How to choose a way to communicate

Good design depends on communicating ideas clearly, and a designer has many ways to do it. Before choosing one, ask two questions: who is this for, and what stage am I at. Something quick and rough suits the very first ideas; something accurate and measured suits the moment of making; something realistic and attractive suits showing a client. A model you can pick up, whether real or on a computer, suits testing the form in three dimensions. Rather than learning the methods as a flat list, learn to match each one to the audience and the stage, and your ideas will travel clearly from your mind to a finished product.

Match the design stage to what happens

Fitting the human body

A designer measures the human hand so that a tool handle fits it and is comfortable to hold. Which design idea is this?

• ergonomics, designing a product to fit the human body
• aesthetics, which is only about how the product looks
• a working drawing, which gives exact sizes
• a mood board, which sets a style

A good specification

Select the TWO things a design specification should include.

• The measurable requirements the product must meet
• The materials and size the product should use
• The personal mood of the designer that day
• A promise that the design will never be changed

Counting the methods

A designer lists 6 ways to communicate a design. 2 of them are types of drawing. Subtract to find how many of the 6 are not drawings.

Order the design process

Put these stages of the design process in order, from the start.

• Identify the design opportunity and research it
• Write the brief and the specification
• Generate and develop ideas
• Make the product, then test and evaluate it

Complete the design facts

A short statement of what the client needs is the design _____. A list of the measurable requirements the product must meet is the _____. Designing a product to fit the human body and be comfortable to use is called _____. How a product looks and appeals to the eye is its _____.

Match the communication method

Spot the true design facts

Tap the TWO statements that are true.

• A working drawing gives the exact sizes for making a product
• Ergonomics is about a product fitting the human body
• A mood board gives the exact dimensions for manufacture
• The design process must always run in a straight line

Communicate the design

Read each case and choose the best response, with a reason.

• You have just thought of several rough ideas for a new lamp. Which communication method suits this stage best?
• You need to give a workshop the exact sizes to make the lamp. What do you provide?
• You want the lamp to be comfortable to switch on and pleasing to look at. Which two ideas guide you?

Explain designing and communicating

A friend is starting Technology and Design and asks how designers come up with ideas and show them to others. Explain the design process and how designs are communicated.

• Explain what the design brief and the specification are
• Explain what ergonomics and aesthetics mean
• Describe two ways a designer can communicate a design idea
• Explain why a working drawing is different from a freehand sketch
• Finish by explaining why the design process is non-linear