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Design and technology
Innovation and emerging technologies
Six projects and the design process
In the Design and Technology HSC course you will learn to emulate the practices and processes used by designers to assist in the development of the major design project (MDP). This tutorial gives you the opportunity to explore the design process used by six designers in the development of six innovative products.
Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcome:
H1.2 The student relates the practices and processes of designers and producers to the major design project.
Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Design and Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)
realDesign
The realDesign web site is a rich resource
for anyone studying design. While there are many aspects to the
web site, the section you will be exploring starts on the home
page 
. From there you can select from six products:
- Sumo man
- Dyson washing machine
- Eden project
- Vexed jacket
- Preston bike
- Jumbo pack.
Each product is presented in six stages with an introductory story. The stages are:
- Get the brief
- Research it
- Be specific (specifications)
- Think about it (incubation)
- Make it
- Test it.
While it may be tempting to just look at a case study that relates to your major design project, it is well worth looking at a number of them. The Vexed jacket for example, was developed to enhance urban mobility (to protect the wearer from the environment when cycling). The analysis and creativity that is presented might shift your thinking about your own project.
Activity
- Jot down some
points as you read the information. Maybe a mind map would be
an effective way to build up a picture of the design process
for each product. Or you could try drawing a flow chart.
- Classify the design trend that each product demonstrates.
- The A-Z design glossary is also
excellent and it may be a good idea to print it out or bookmark
the page for future reference.
Select points that relate to your MDP from the glossary, these may help you develop your criteria for success and be useful sentence starters for your justification of design choices.
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