Engineering 2503
Winter 2008
What is Design?
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Engineering Design: Introduction to
Product Design and Development
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Week 1b:
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Design processes and organization
Andy Fisher, PEng
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Engineering Design
Formal definition of design
• A design is the product of planning and work. A
design is produced to satisfy a need that
someone has. It is something that has not
always existed; instead it is created expressly to
satisfy a need.
• A design may or may not involve invention.
Some designs are truly inventive but most are
not. We will discuss inventions and patents later.
• Good design requires both analysis and
synthesis.
• “Design establishes and defines solutions
to and pertinent structures for problems
not solved before, or new solutions to
problems which have been solved in a
different way”.
• Ability to design is both a science and an
art. Hence, the structure of this course.
You learn the science through the lectures
and the art by doing design.
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“To create something that has never
been.”
Definition also used by artists, sculptor,
composer, fashion designer, etc.
In engineering, design is the essence of
engineering. To design is to pull together
something new or arrange existing things
in a new way to satisfy a recognized
need of society.
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Comparison between the scientific
method and the design method
Science vs. Engineering
• “Science studies what is, engineering
creates what never was” – Theodore Von
Karman.
• Engineering extends well beyond the boundaries
of science. In your future career, you will have
the opportunity to create dozens of original
designs and have the satisfaction of seeing them
become working realities.
• “ A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him” – Asimov.
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The Design Process
Product Development vs. Design
• Design is a creative process, and all new
creations of the mind are the result of trial
and error.
• The iterative nature of design provides an
opportunity to improve the design on the
basis of preceding outcome.
• Remember – there is no perfect design.
Perfection in design is relative to the user
of the product or design.
• PDP is the entire set of activities required
to bring a new concept to a state of market
readiness: new product vision, marketing,
technical engineering design, prototyping,
manufacturing, and validation.
• A design process is the set of technical
activities within a PDP that works to meet
the marketing and business case vision.
• Hence the design process is usually a
sub-set of the PDP.
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Challenges of Product Design and
Development
…… and Rewards
• Trade-offs: e.g. cost vs. weight
• Dynamics: technology improvements,
competitive new products, preferences change
• Details: e.g. screws or snap-fits?
• Time pressure: decisions made quickly without
enough information
• Economics: Large investment, need to earn
reasonable return on investment. Products must
be appealing and inexpensive to produce.
• Creation: Begins with an idea and ends with the
production of a physical artifact. Intensively creative
process
• Satisfaction of societal and individual needs: All
products are aimed at satisfying some kind of need.
• Team diversity: Requires many different skills and
talents. Development teams involve people with a wide
range of different training, experience, perspectives, and
personalities
• Team Spirit: Teams are highly motivated, cooperative
groups. Team members focuses their collective energy
on creating the product. May result in lasting
camaraderie among team members.
• “Each new day brings forth a new challenge, but each
new challenge gives birth to a new day” - anonymous
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Flow diagrams for 3 product development processes
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Detailed generic product development process
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Variants of generic product development process
Examples of Types of Design
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Example: An electronics products company’s process
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Good Design vs. Bad Design
• Just because an engineer has produced
something does not mean that the product has
been designed well.
• Just because the design works initially doesn’t
mean that the product will last over time.
• Although the criteria by which a product is
judged varies with the nature of the product, the
success of most design efforts can be judged by
the general characteristics summarized in the
next table.
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Characteristics of Good Design vs.
Bad Design
• GOOD DESIGN
• BAD DESIGN
– Meets all technical
requirements
– Works all the time
– Meets cost requirements
– Requires little or no
maintenance
– Is safe
– Creates no ethical dilemma
– Is sustainable & culturally
appropriate
– Meets only some technical
requirements
– Works initially but stops
working after a short time
– Costs more than it should
– Requires frequent
maintenance
– Poses a hazard to users
– Raises ethical questions
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Some free advice for you
• Develop an intrinsic feeling of why and how
things work – think of the big picture.
• Adhere to ethical standards that are consistent
with your own
• Avoid being a “formula plugger” – those who memorize
equations and blindly plug in numbers to arrive at design decisions but have
little feeling for what the formulas actually mean.
• Develop a vision and perspective
• Don’t take irresponsible short cuts, ignore safety
concerns, or choose solutions without testing.
• Emulate engineers who are well respected,
experienced, and practiced at design.
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Organization for Product Design and Development: e.g.
electro-mechanical product
Good Engineering Practice
Who does
what ?
• GOOD PRACTICES:
• BAD PRACTICES:
– Listening to new ideas with an
open mind
– Considering a variety of
solution methodologies before
choosing a design approach
– Don’t consider a project
complete at the first sign of
success, but insists on testing
and retesting
– Don’t be content to arrive at a
set of design parameters
solely by trial and error
– Uses phrases like, “I need to
understand why”, and “Let’s
consider all possibilities.”
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Various product development organizations
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Who is
responsible for
what?
Where does
the buck
stop?
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Characteristics of different organizational structures
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Thought questions and exercises
Summary
• A PDP is sequence of steps an enterprise employs to
conceive, design, and commercialize a product.
• A well-defined PDP helps ensures product quality,
facilitate coordination among team members, plan
development project, and continuously improve the
process.
• Generic PDP has 6 phases: planning, concept
development, system-level design, testing and
refinement, and production ramp-up.
• PDP employed may differ depending on the type of
product.
• Regardless of PDP, tasks are completed by individuals
residing in organizations. Organizations are defined by
linking individuals through reporting relationships,
financial relationships, and/or physical layout.
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Who reports to
whom?
– Thinking you have all the
answers; seldom listening to
ideas of others
– Tunnel vision; pursuing with
intensity only the first design
approach that comes to mind
– Shipping the product out the
door without thorough testing
– Using phrases such as, “good
enough”, and “I don’t
understand why it won’t work.
So-and-so did it this way.”
– Equating pure trial and error
with engineering design
• Diagram a process for planning and cooking a
family dinner. Does your process resemble the
generic PDP? Is cooking dinner analogous to a
market-pull, technology-push, process-intensive,
or customization process?
• Define a process for finding a job. For what
types of endeavor does a well-defined process
enhance performance?
• What is the product development organization
for students engaged in projects as part of a
product development class?
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