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Use of design strategies

1 Collaboration

Rarely would one person work on a design in isolation. More likely they are working as part of team. This allows people to 'bounce' ideas off each other.

You could use a design method called SCAMPER

  • Substitute
  • Combine
  • Adapt
  • Modify
  • Put
  • Eliminate
  • Reverse

Here is a video that explains the stages involved.

2 User centred design

This could be done by:

  • having user requirements as a starting point for your design ideas
  • asking your user to draw out some ideas or make a simple model for you
  • modelling your ideas in 3D to gain user feedback to aid your development
  • using anthropometric data from your user to influence your design ideas.

3 System thinking

The simplest way is to create a flowchart but start backwards.

  1. What do you want your product to achieve (output)?
  2. How is it going to achieve that function (process)?
  3. What inputs or energies would it need to do that (input)?

4 Exam questions

  • Create a flowchart for making a cup of tea. Develop it further into a systems diagram including inputs, processes and outputs.
  • Discuss which design strategies a design company might use when designing a pair of headphones.