design & manufacture project

identifying design opportunities

John Lee / Rowan Todd / John Robson / Mark HelliwellNovember 2005

preliminary research contextual analysis

problem abstractiondesign criteriadesign brief

developing a product design specification

time management resource managementcritical path analysis

testing, field trialling and refinement

formative / summative

evaluation & target setting

concept generationconcept selection

empirical research& analysis

modelling, prototyping

development for manufacture

creativity & innovation

“the imaginative leap from present facts to future possibilities….”

J. K. Page – Design Methods

“the problem is never how to get new innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out.”

Dee Hock - ‘The Circle of Innovation’

“you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the Prince – but …… one Prince can pay for an awful lot of frogs!”

Art Fry - Inventor of the Post-It note

innovation a realistic expectation?

Innovative Rethinking’ Pullin (1999)

British manufacturing industry is disturbingly complacent about the process of innovation and few were managing the process at all well

c 70% of the surveyed companies rely on customers for new product ideas

c 50% of companies scan their competitors for inspiration

little evidence that company staff, academia or independent researchers were used to identify opportunities or generate ideas.

New to the

world

New Product Lines

Additions to lines

Improve-ments

Cost Reduction

s

Re-positioning

s

% a

ge o

f N

ew

Pro

duct

Launch

es

Source : Stanley Tools Ltd, 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

new product development

all industries

product analysis ‘under wraps’

product disassembly component /

function analysis

product ‘benchmarkin

g’ product comparison

matrix

identifying design

opportunities ‘bi-

sociation’

product / user

analysis ‘user trip’

problem clarification 635 matrix

task identification, clarification &

definition

ideas generation,

development & selection

project management,

critical reflection &

target setting

designing : a flexible toolkit

market pull

a market opportunity is observed and an appropriate product is developed to meet the user need.technolog

y push

new technological knowledge is put to innovative use(s) in the development of products.

platform product

a new product is built around the same technological sub-system as an existing product.

new product development

starting points

design opportunities : technology push

quantum tunnelling compound (QTC) pills

change from an insulator to a conductor as a direct result of the force applied

used in low power applications where a change in resistance is required to control the function of an electrical system.

3.6mm square by 1mm thick and small enough to be integrated between existing switch contacts

can carry sufficient current for direct switching of low power equipment

cheap and easily available

http://www.youngforesight.org/

design opportunities : platform product

wind up energy ……….

A minute or two wind-up = 30 minutes power. These products use a clockwork generator to charge a battery power source

identifying design opportunities‘bisociation’ : (after Arthur Koestler)

outcomes: develop creativity through the application of lateral

thinking

identify and evaluate potential design opportunities

gain expertise in the framing of design briefs

random word technique – 1 using bridging ideas

stages :

initial stimulus obtain random word

context present the context in a concise statement

bridging idea reflect on the characteristics of the random word when applied to

the context

new proposal developed from bridging idea look atbenefits your random noun

will bringand express this as a

proposal

example 1

random word : SNAIL

context : develop a new idea for dust collection.

bridging idea : snails carry their homes on their backs. The advantage of this would be no power leads.

proposal : a back pack vacuum which uses rechargeable batteries.

example 2

random word : CAT

context : develop a new idea for watering the garden

bridging idea : cats are: agile; have 9 lives; flexible; fast moving; inquisitive; territorial; don’t’ like water; scent mark; camouflage. The advantage of this would be a machine that is self-sufficient.

proposal : a robotic watering system that is: solar powered; operates in a set area; returns to a ‘home’

location to be fed (recharged).

bisociation prompts ………

potential problems

Do not …..

discard the word and replace it with an easier one.

create too many steps between the random word and the creation of an idea.

link the word with an idea you are already familiar with.

context : protection activity : gardening

journey car roadchicken

egg

shell

Design Opportunity :

Explore the egg shell form as a protection system for young seedlings

design opportunity

design opportunity

seed word

seed word

identifying opportunities for design

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/ everything you need to know about contemporary design related issues supported by case

studies.

http://www.totallyabsurd.com/ A compendium of totally useless inventions – or are they? – with a little help from you, maybe not!

http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/ A snapshot in time – just like the name says, the coolest inventions of 2003 – time for an update?

http://www.02.org/ a site focusing on sustainability issues in design with examples

http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/ a site full of ideas on how to generate ideas …….

http://www.designaddict.cominformation on designers and producers

http://designinsite.dk/ new materials and processes

http://www.baddesigns.com a bit of reverse psychology!

recommended websites

blackboard support

Announcements

Course documents

Briefing

Powerpoints

Weblinks

Contacts

Discussion forum