| The product study is a really useful exercise in studying a product in depth and looking at the factors that contribute to its success. It is an opportunity to take an everyday item and improve it in some way. Clearly selecting the right item is vital. You are much better off selecting a fairly simple item than a complex one - Potato masher, yes: Microwave oven, no - and it is better still if it is a product that irritates you slightly by not being as good as it could. It is vital that you pick a specific product made by a particular manufacturer. For example, 'Stanley Tools 99E Craft Knife' not simply 'Craft Knives'. Selecting the correct product to study is crucial and, so that you don't rush in only to encounter problems later, I suggest you read through the mark scheme which I have translated into 'pupil' below. Those of you with a background in Graphics might wish to carry out a product study on a graphical product. The same rules apply as above. Examples might include, a Sainsburys wine bottle carrier or an Innocent Smoothie 180ml carton.
1. Analysis of Chosen Product (24 marks) Candidates should be able to:
Make sure that you take a picture of the particular object that you are studying being used. If you have picked an Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush, take a photograph of it being used. At face value, the "intended purpose" should be blindingly obvious i.e.. it's a tin opener, it's purpose is to open tins. You need to dig a bit deeper than this. It's primary function may well be to open tins but it could be a product aimed at the higher end of the market and designed to appeal to fashion conscious users in the kitchen. It could be part of a range of kitchen-ware products that a company sells. Don't forget that the product that you are analysing has been commercially produced. You will need to identify both the needs of the consumer and the needs of the manufacturer in regard of the product. In "identifying the key criteria" you need to try to work out what the original product specification would have been for the particular product. For an example of how the information might be presented click here. For more information on product specification, click here.
Do NOT simply write a list of the strengths and weaknesses of your product. You must say how it compares against a range of similar products. A range ought to consist of around 5 other similar products. You can devise a simple scoring/rating system for a number of criteria which I think ought to include function, suitability of materials used, suitability of manufacturing processes used, ease of use/ergonomics, cost, and aesthetics. You must compare the object that you have chosen against the other objects, not with the other objects. So, if we were to pick 'Cost' as an example, the Stanley 99E Craft Knife retails at £4.64 which is cheaper than the Stanley Titan Retractable blade knife @ £10.99 and the Stanley 'Fat Max' Swivel-Lock fixed blade knife @ £7.04 but more expensive than the B&Q Snap-off blade knife @ 99p. When comparing 'Ease of Use' it is worth pointing out that the blade in the 'B&Q' knife can be snapped-off and changed in under 15 seconds, the 'Titan' has a wheel nut to allow you to change blades and the 'Fat Max' has its own magnetic blade holder to help you. In comparison, the Stanley 99E knife requires a screw-driver to dismantle it first.
For an example of how the information might be presented click here.
This is a little more tricky. The very first environmental issue is to consider whether there is any need for the product at all! If it is just another unnecessary gimmick then it is costing the Earth's resources in just being manufactured. If it wasteful in use - inefficient, overly complex - then it is costing the Earth's resources. If it is poorly made and does not have a use at the end of its life or not easily recyclable then once again it is costing the Earth's resources. Break down the environmental impact into different categories. Consider the energy used in the development and design of the product, the energy used in extracting, transporting and processing the materials to turn them into the final product, the energy used in transporting them to retail outlets, the energy used during the life of the product and finally the energy used in disposing of the product. Sometimes the extraction of the materials can cause environmental and social problems; copper, mined in the Congo, is often extracted using child labour and can involve the use of toxic chemicals which are not properly processed.
A
further consideration should be the cultural implications of a product.
What might be appropriate for a Western culture may be inappropriate in
another culture. A ladies razor might be relevant in Western society but
a devout Muslim will have no need for it.
This should be easy to do. You have picked on a product because you think it is deficient in one or more areas. Re-state the intended purpose of the product and say what aspect you wish to improve. "I am going to improve the design the Stanley 99E craft knife. The main purpose of the knife is to easily and safely allow the user to cut through a range of materials. The strengths of the design are its durability and quality of the blade retraction mechanism, but I will be aiming to improve the ergonomics associated with the method of changing the blade". One particular aspect will do. You are NOT redesigning the whole product.
From this wealth of ideas you need to develop and model one, perhaps using elements of others. You need to state why this idea is most likely to meet the criteria of the specification and justify your decision. Look through your ideas and see how well they meet the specification that you produced earlier in the study. Use this as the basis for selecting one idea that you will now model and develop further. One of the ways of doing this is to draw a chart that has the different ideas on one axis and the key specification points on the other. You can then comment on how well each idea meets the specification and devise a scoring system so that you can select the most suitable design.
B. Product Development, Modelling and Testing (60 marks) Candidates should be able to:
A good starting point would be to include an illustration of the idea that came out top when you evaluated it (in the previous section) and analyse it using the criteria suggested above. What is meant by 'design constraints'? Well, virtually
all mass produced goods are compromised in some way. Cost is a major determining
factor - if money were no object it is unlikely that any of the products
you are improving would have had any major flaws. Related factors include
the choice of materials - sure a CD case would last longer if it was made
from Titanium but this will have cost implications and possible environmental
ones too. If you design something that has many parts and/or complex shapes,
it may well stretch the capabilities of a manufacturer to make them accurately
(and within budget). You all have fairly sophisticated design tastes but
whilst you may gasp in horror at some of the products on sale they do (presumably)
attract customers. Similarly there are people who would never fork out more
money for a kettle that just looked a bit nicer and a large proportion of
the population who are too conservative to go for a radical design. All
of these are factors that will impose limitations or 'constraints' on your idea: Analyse
them!
The key thing is that you must produce a range of both 2D and 3D models and that means more than one of each. For example, if you were improving the design of the Stanley 99E knife, you might want to produce several cross-section 2D card models showing the position of the internal components to demonstrate that your design can accommodate them with the blade fully out and fully retracted. These 2D card models could be designed on 2D Design and then laser-cut. ProDesktop or Sketchup drawings are classed as 2D models (even though they show a 3D shape) and are vital if you are going to show a range in this section. Using the same product as an example, you could produce a range of 3D styrofoam models, Polymorph or even clay, to allow you to see how comfortable your idea is to use and to evaluate its aesthetic qualities. The quality of the models doesn't have to be high; simple card models will be sufficient and you can concentrate on one particular part of your design to model if that is appropriate. It is hoped that the act of producing the model will help you to understand potential problems were your idea to go into full-scale production. The model may show potential weaknesses with the idea but that is fine because you will have an opportunity to explain these later Decent quality photographs are crucial. A mobile phone camera will probably be sufficient but make sure that the image is not blurred or indistinct.
The requirement here is to make a test rig. In other words, make a device that allows you to test the function or materials in a repeatable way. The test rig should not take more than 3 hours to make although you must submit a page showing your ideas for the test rig. The model that you made will help you to see whether you have made improvements to the function, ergonomics or aesthetics but you need to devise a test that will allow you to see whether you have made improvements to the physical properties. For example, if you have redesigned a paint pot lid to make it easier to seal and pour, you need to come up with a test that shows that the new lid requires less force to open/close and is better able to pour a dollop of paint. The test rig will therefore need to be able to compare the original design with your new, improved one. This test rig will be something that you lash together in a workshop using resistant materials and workshop tools. It does not have to be beautiful but it should allow you to repeat the test and your results must be measurable in some way. This will allow you to say in the next section something like "My design requires 34% less force to open the paint pot lid and incorporating a pouring spout within the lid has reduced wastage by 18%." You cannot test your new, improved design by handing out questionnaires. That will result in subjective opinion rather than objective data. If you think it will be near impossible to test a physical requirement, you can always test samples of a range of different materials that your product might be constructed from, providing that the test is relevant. Using the Stanley 99E knife as an example, one of the properties would be that it should be able to withstand impact as tools tend to get knocked around a fair bit. You could construct a test rig that repeatedly swings a large mass into specimens of the materials that might be used to see which is best a withstanding impacts.
This is fairly obvious. You are being asked for an evaluation of both the model and the test rig results in order for you to evaluate your chosen idea. You will also need to suggest further improvements to your design and this is best presented graphically with annotation. |