What

• Critical Thinking:
  1. Look critically at the objects which we use in our daily life. Consider the intended purpose, constraints, design features, and how effectively the object has been designed to achieve those design goals.
  2. Identify aspects of good and poor design in those objects.
  3. Use that understanding combined with class exercises to identify a need (or desire) in your life for a new product, or an improvement of an existing object.
  4. Consciously use a defined Design Process to generate and improve a design.
• Diversity:
  1. By applying knowledge of different human abilities and disabilities and using Universal Design Principles you will create a design which can be used by the greatest number of people possible. Use objective observations of various real people to determine design criteria.
• Communication:
  1. Clearly document both the design itself and the outcomes of intermediate design process steps using a written report, sketches or images, and tabulation.
  2. Create a display board for your product considering the intended meanings of the images chosen. Use images to communicate ideas without relying only on text.
  3. All written output must be in a Word document. Scanned sketches and/or computer generated images are preferred, but it is OK to attach hand drawn sketches.

Design process step	Assignment output	Due	Points
Understand market, client, constraints	Part 1: Generate ideas. Choose one and clearly state the problem to be solved. Make plan for user observation. Turn in idea list, problem statement, and observation plan.	Oct 8, 2007	10 points
Observe real life situations. Draw conclusions about user needs.	Part 2: Observe users to define criteria for a "good" design. Turn in documented observations, conclusions, and criteria based on observations and Universal Design Principles.	Oct 10, 2007	10 points
Visualize: Generate different ideas.	Part 3a: Generate alternative design ideas. Turn in sketches and descriptions of five complete designs	Oct 15, 2007	5 points
Evaluate and Refine: Use the Pugh process to identify the best alternative.	Part 3b: Evaluate different designs using previously defined criteria. Select best design and optimize. Turn in Pugh matrix and conclusions.	Oct 15, 2007	5 points
Implement: Modify the design if desired. Document the results in a written design report and a presentation board for a design show.	Part 4: Written documentation of full process. Include previous sections and add documentation of final design and conclusions about the success in solving the problem.	Oct 17, 2007	50 points
	Part 5: Presentation board for design show.	Oct 22, 2007	20 points

• Idea generation
  • Pay attention to the objects that you and the others around you use.
  • Make note of any object that causes frustration, doesn’t work well, or is difficult to use. Do NOT assume that the source of the difficulty might be the person.
  • Note any object that you would like to have, that is not currently available.
  • Feel free to talk to others for ideas or feedback.
  • Keep this idea list or bug list in your journal as well as any sketches.
  • Turn in a list of five to ten objects that need improvement or need to be designed. Or, if the object doesn’t exist just state the problem.
    1. For each object explain the problem in the most general form possible. Example “I want to get fresh air into my bedroom without letting pollen in because it causes allergies.” NOT “I want to design a window screen.”
    2. You may need to explain the problem with existing solutions.
• Object selection.
  • Choose one item from your list for further work. Write a problem statement for that design problem.
    • Focus on the task or action. If you are focusing on the object you have probably already assumed a solution.
    • Do not assume a solution. You should never say, "I’m going to design a ..."
    • Bad statement: I want to design a cool car with only 2 wheels.
    • Decent statement: Design a means for short distance travel in the city that uses little fuel and requires little space to park.
    • Decent statement: I live too far to make bicycling practical but do not want the expense of a car and do not want to use much gas.
    • Better statement and problem: To make bike riding in the city more safe I need a better way to see the cars around me without turning around.
    • Bad statement: Design a rear-view mirror for a bicycle. (Assumes solution.)
  • Make a plan for user observation. It should include:
    • Who are you going to observe? Where? How? (e.g. Is it anonymously like IDEO’s shopping cart, or will you be going into someone’s home or room?)
    • How are you going to document the results? It should be photos unless it is prohibitively difficult. Some notes will be needed as well.
    • You need to observe at least three people in detail not including yourself.
    • If the observation plan isn’t practical ("Observe three people taking showers ...") then you’ll need a different problem statement.
  • Grading: Full credit for an idea list with at least five ideas, a clearly written problem statement with explanation as to motivation and goals, and a specific and complete observation plan.

• Observation: observe at least 3 people. You can also observe yourself if you can be objective.
  • Observe the behaviors of users and how they interact with the object and their environment.
  • Note that the task is what is important, not the object. Perhaps the user is currently using a different object to do the same task.
• Documentation of observation
  • Photographs. If the user does not want to be photographed you can still clearly document the environment and existing object(s) with photos.
  • Written descriptions of behavior, about one short paragraph for each observation. Things to consider:
    • What is the task? Consider the GOAL. Similar to the problem statement.
    • What are the methods? A flowchart can be helpful.
    • Where are the tasks performed? Is this always the same?
    • What other tools are used?
    • How often is this done?
    • Is time important?
    • How were the users influenced by the environment or the object?
    • What are the similarities or differences between users?
• Conclusions based on observations. What is the task? What are the methods? What user needs can you identify from this exercise? One paragraph.
• Criteria for evaluating design.
  • Must include Universal Design criteria. Those should be restated in a way that applies to the problem at hand.
  • What does flexibility in use mean in this case? For my fresh air solution it could mean working in different windows. It should also provide for use by users of different capabilities.
  • Must include cost and could include some aesthetic measurement.
  • Must comprehend user needs identified above (at least 2 in addition to Universal Design criteria)
  • Overall you should have at least 8 criteria.
• Grading: Five points for clear documentation of observations (photos, sketches, or detailed descriptions) and the conclusions you have drawn from them. Five points for generating eight criteria clearly linked to observations and Universal Design. You must include most Universal Design principles and restate in a more specific manner.

• Generate at least five design alternatives.
  • A design alternative is a fully realized design, not a feature of a design.
    • Example: wheels are a feature of a backpack design. If you want to consider wheels you should sketch out a full backpack including wheels.
  • One of these can be an existing product used as a reference. The others should be unique in at least one respect.
  • Each design alternative should be numbered and named for ease of reference.
  • Most alternatives will need a sketch, however at times a description may be sufficient.
  • Sketches do not need to be artistic, but should indicate key features.
• Use the Pugh matrix attached to compare the various alternatives and identify the optimum design. Type it in.
  • If what you considered your “best” design doesn’t “win” you should re-evaluate the results. Should you weight something more heavily? Did you forget one aspect? If so, do another matrix.
  • Should your final design include some features from the other alternatives?
• Write a brief conclusion. Which design was the best and why? How close is it to meeting your goals?
• Turn in sketches and descriptions of your five designs, a completed Pugh matrix, and a conclusion based on the Pugh results

• Documentation will include the documentation of the previous steps in the process as well as the final result.
• If you did a thorough job on the preceding steps you can just insert them into the final document with just a few additions.
• Include:
  • Idea list, and the reasons for selecting a particular problem. It should involve some personal reflection as well as more objective reasons. Why choose this problem?
  • Problem statement.
  • User observations.
  • Pugh matrix, with clear and succinct descriptions of the design criteria and design alternatives.
• Document final design.
  • May be one of previous alternatives, but may be modified.
  • Probably requires a sketch. Does require a brief description.
  • Add enough details to the description of the chosen design to clearly explain important features and how those features satisfy the criteria.
• Grading: 50 points. Problem Statement/Motivation (5), Observations and Criteria (10), Alternatives (10), Evaluation and conclusions (5), Sketch and description of final design (20)

• Design concept must be presented on two 11X17 inch boards.
  • Boards must be no less than ¼ inch thick and no more than 3/8 inch thick.
  • Designs must be oriented vertically, 17 inches high by 11 inches wide. No other size Presentation Board will be accepted.
  • The board must be rigid and lightweight, preferably foam core. No wood, masonite, or metal allowed. Boards must not be framed or covered in plastic or glass.
  • No Projections from the flat surface of the board are permitted. All text and information must be in English and a minimum 14-point type size.
• Content requirements:
  • Problem statement or design goal.
  • Sketch or picture of final design. Photos, computer generated images, paintings, hand drawings are all permitted.
  • List of criterion used to evaluate design, and how the design performed against the criterion. Note that a list of numbers without any explanation is not meaningful.
  • Criterion must include Universal Design Principles.
• Evaluation criteria are: completeness, adherence to the above requirements, adherence to Universal Design principles, clarity of ideas, and clarity of visual communication.

Evaluation Criteria		Design Alternatives
		Name of 1st design	Name of 2nd design	Name of 3rd design	Name of 4th design	Name of 5th design	Name of 6th design
		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Criterion 1: explain here. Attach summary explanation here.
2	Criterion which means ... Rated 1-10 where 1=bad and 10=good
3	Ease of use: For this object ease of use means ... It is rated by ...
4	Cost: (cost<$10)=10, (10$<cost<$20)=8, ...
5	Etc. at least 8 criteria
6
7
8

1	Name of first design: See sketch #1 which is attached. This design uses these ideas ... It looks like ... The strongest features are ...
2	Name of second design. Description of second design.
3	Etc. at least five alternatives
4
5
6

When