Activity 3: Summary and next steps

In this activity you studied the engineering design process with particular emphasis on conceptual design, which is the most critical and creative stage in the design process. Conceptual design is critical since an error in the conceptual design of a product is impossible to rectify in later stages of the design process.

Four stages of the design process

You should now understand that the design of any new product must start with problem formulation. This involves working with stakeholders (e.g. customers) to clarify the problem and elaborate the design requirements.

The next stage of the design process is called conceptual design. Its purpose is to find the best concept (i.e. working principle) for the product. Conceptual design starts by identifying the functions that the product should provide. You learned that these functions describe what the product should do, but not how these functions will be implemented.

The function structure of the product is represented using a black box diagram in which each function is depicted as a rectangle. The boxes are connected to each other with arrows that show the flow of materials (e.g. water), energy (e.g. electric current) and signals (e.g. control signals) between the functions.

After understanding the functions of the product, designers must find as many solutions (i.e. implementations) to each function as possible. These solutions are then combined into a number of concept variants. These concepts are evaluated against some criteria (e.g. cost) using a systematic evaluation technique, such as a Pugh matrix.

Finally the concept that scores the highest mark in this evaluation is adopted for further refinement in the next stage of the design process, which you now know is called embodiment design. During embodiment design, the concept is embodied (hence the name) into technical drawings that describe the design of each part of the product, as well as assembly drawings that describe how the parts fit together. Calculations are carried out at this stage to make sure that all parts are strong enough to withstand the loads applied to them.

The fourth and last stage of the design process is the detail design stage where final touches are added to the design drawings so that they are ready to be forwarded to the manufacturers.

Next steps

This brings us to the end of Activity 3 and the end of Week 1. We hope you are enjoying this introduction to engineering design so far . Next week, you will examine some of the soft skills that you will need for a role in engineering design and will also work with a case study to help consolidate your learning about the design phase of a product.

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