3 - Designing

Question 1

What are the six Rs of sustainability?

Answer 1

• Recycle
• Reduce
• Refuse
• Repair
• Rethink
• Reuse

Question 2

Recycle - six Rs of sustainability

Answer 2

Involves recovering parts and materials to be used when products reach the end of their useful life

Question 3

Reduce - Six Rs of sustainability

Answer 3

Involves minimising wastage, by using less material or eliminating excessive packaging

Question 4

Refuse - six Rs of sustainability

Answer 4

Involves avoiding designs which, for example use materials which are harmful to the environment or are difficult to recycle

Question 5

Repair - six Rs of sustainability

Answer 5

Involves designing products that can be require rather than those that have to be thrown out if they are damaged

Question 6

Rethink - six Rs of sustainability

Answer 6

Involves considering carefully whether there might be more sustainable alternatives

Question 7

Reuse - six Rs of sustainability

Answer 7

Involves making it possible to use products again rather than discarding them

Question 8

Maintenance (4)

Answer 8

• Temporary and integral fixings can be used to facilitate or control maintenance of products
• Use of standardised parts that can make maintenance possible
• Allows for the service and repair/replacement of parts
• Ability to upgrade with software downloads with electronic downloads

Question 9

The need to modify designs to make more efficient to manufacture

Answer 9

Recycling has been increasingly linked and incorporated into manufacture of products - this has made easy to disassemble or seperate a critical factor

Question 10

Ease of manufacture

Answer 10

Manufacturers are keen to make their products as efficiently as possible to reduce their costs and to minimise the chance of mistakes being made that could affect the quality of finished goods

Question 11

Examples of strategies for ease of manufacture (4)

Answer 11

• Using a mofular approach in the design, so sub-systems are easier to track and fault-find
• Using standardised parts and sizes across different versions/models to reduce the overall number of parts required
• Using advanced soldering techniques such as wave or reflow, rather than manual soldering
• Using adhesives instead of mechanical fasteners

Question 12

Define ergonomics (3)

Answer 12

• Is the study of interaction between the human body, products and environment
• Designers aim to make products in between 5% and 95% percentile
• Ergonomics is about designing for humans, wherever they are and whatever they are doing

Question 13

Benefits of good ergonomics

Answer 13

• stress on people are reduced
• More comfortable, they can do things more quickly and easily and make fewer mistakes

Question 14

Anthropometrics (3)

Answer 14

• Involves using body sizes to improve ergonomics in products, systems and environments
• This data is taken from measurements of hundreds of volunteers and is normally recorded as percentiles
• Average size is known as 50th percentile

Question 15

Factors of ergonomics (4)

Answer 15

• Colour
• Material
• Shapes/size
• Noise (to show product has been used well)

Question 16

Arts and crafts movement (3)

Answer 16

• 1863 industrial revolution led to an increase in automation and there was belief this decreased creativity
• Morris believed that machines decreased the scope of creativity therefore decreasing the value/importance of crafts people
• Products were hand crafted based around nature

Question 17

Bauhaus (5)

Answer 17

• Was ‘school of building’/’art achool’ in Germany
• Wanted embrace arts and crafts with new technology
• Bauhaus made the first mass produced metal chair (cantilever chair)
• Huge focus on shapes of products and simplicity
• Peaked between the world wars

Question 18

Modernism (4)

Answer 18

• Believes that you can design a better society
• Focus mainly on products working well
• Applied to all forms of creation
• Concrete, glass, steel featured heavily in buildings

Question 19

Streamlining/America industrial design (5)

Answer 19

• Focused on products looking better
• This was to increase consumer spending in response to economy crash
• Had a massive impact on society - curving forms and nautical elements
• Vinyl, chrome, plywood and aluminium used more
• Refused to/ inspired by utilitarian art

Question 20

Post modernism (4)

Answer 20

• Focus on producing things to provoke questions - new era of freedom
• They wanted larger quantities as they believed “less is bore”
• Started 3Pm March 16th 1972 when a symbolic modernist building was detroyed
• Example of this is the Las Vegas strip

Question 21

Art Deco (2)

Answer 21

• Is a design style from 1920s and 30s
• Mainly used in furniture, decorative arts, architecture characterised by shape
• Chrome, glass, shinny fabrics, mirrors and mirror lines were comkon
• Stylised images of aeroplanes, cars and cruise liner and skyscrapers

Question 22

Define feasibility study

Answer 22

Assesses whether a proposed product system or process has any potential. The can help flag up problems before fully committing to a project. They are used in many sectors from businesses to charities from products to services

Question 23

Factors feasibility studies look at (5)

Answer 23

• Technical - what resources and technologies are required?
• Economic - what costs will be incurred? Will it be profitable?
• Market - what is demand? Who are competitors?
• Legal - which laws and regulations apply?
• Production - management of manufacture and labour

Question 24

Technical factors

Question 25

Economic factors (3)

Answer 25

* All projects must be financially viable to attract investors and operate sustainably * Spreadsheets are used to compare potential costs to be proposed retail price and predicted sales to estimate profits and the return on the investment * Costs explicitly linked to making a product are called direct costs whereas indirect costs are those needed for the day to day running of a business

Question 26

Time and money - feasibility studies

Answer 26

* The longer time takes to manufacture a unit, the higher the cost of each product will be * This is why lean manufacturing aims for the most efficient use of time, labour and resources as possible

Question 27

Assessing the market - feasibility studies

Question 28

How should a feasibility study look at the proposed market? (5)

Answer 28

* Profile the target market ,their needs, spending habits etc * Research existing or similar products - what's the usp? * What is the best advertising and marketing strategy * Study current and emerging demands * Estimate sales figures and how the product will be sold

Question 29

Production and logistics - feasibility study factors (4)

Answer 29

• A feasibility study should analyse how the design, manufacture and distribution of the product should be managed this includes: - Identifying the appropriate locations, processes and the scale of product - Establishing the experience and skills required from staff - It could also indicate how best to structure the company

Question 30

Legal factors (3)

Answer 30

* A feasibility study should ensure the relevant quality and safety standards for products can be observed * Environmental and social standards must be met e.g sourcing/disposal of materials, workers' pay and conditions * The intellectual property for the product may need protection

Question 31

Testing feasibility (4)

Answer 31

* The feasibility of a product is easier to test with a range of prototypes * Physical models are produced to help test viability of a product: - Scale models can be shown to stakeholders, potential customers and manufacturers to get feedback on the design - Full size prototypes can help assess ergonomic feasibility

Question 32

Virtual testing (4)

Answer 32

• Advances in CAD/CAM allow simulations to be run to test viability of a design in different conditions: - The performance of various materials can be assessed at the click of a button - Thermodynamics, airflow and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) can be tested to assess product limitations - Virtual tests give detailed and precise quantities data

Question 34

Testing the market (3)

Answer 34

• Prototypes and drawings are used to get feedback from focus groups: - This can indicate how popular a product might be, the price people are willing to to pay and highlight the best and worst design features - Virtual reality is increasingly being used in market tests