Design Thinking

 

Using Design Thinking 

For the past two years (2018-2020) I have been working on my DT: Resistant Materials IGCSE Coursework. In those two years I have been able to learn and develop my skills relating both technical skills and soft skills in order to solve a problem. 

Design Opportunity

The problem I wanted to solve was the organisation of watches. I wanted to make an organisational system that can cater to people who have a lot of watches and want a simple yet sleek way to organise and display their watches. 

This project aims to help people organise and store their watches which can help with the aesthetic of their room and convenience for accessing the watches they wish to use. My project aims with mainly male consumers. 

Data Collection 

In order to further understand the problem, I did my research on a client as well as looked online for solutions that are already available.

My client has provided me with information that helped me empathise with his situation and produce a product that can benefit him and others like him. The needs of my client helped me create a foundation of what the organisational system should generally be like and give an idea on what people might like. 

During the process of collecting data online, it has allowed me to look at options already available and think of ways that the solutions can be further improved. It pushed me to get creative with my ideas and influence what I want to do and don’t want to do to create a good organisational system for watches.

Through the collection of primary (client) and secondary data (online), I have data on the average size of male watches in order to successfully design a project that can suit the intended consumers. 

Design Goal

My design goal: I will design and make a storage and display unit that can store more than six watches. My design goal helped me evaluate and stay on track with what I want my product to be.   

Success Criteria (part of design goal):

• Free standing and can easily be moved around
• Suitable for different kinds and sizes of watches
• Store more than six watches 
• Easy to use and access 
• Have a modern and minimalist style 
• Dark 

Creativity: Idea Generation 

With the help of the design goal and the guidance of my client’s specifications, I explored different designs with different qualities in order to find the design best suited to my design goal. 

I explored multiple joints (eg. finger joint, butt joint and mitre joint), joining methods (eg. hinge, rebate and friction), and materials (eg. teak, walnut wood and dark mahogany).  

In order to evaluate my designs and if they meet my success criteria, I had a conversation with my client to further analyse my proposed designs. Through this my client analysed the designs; function, aesthetic, materials, ergonomics and the relation to its environment.  

With  this my client picked his top two (design #2 and design #3). Both designs contain some components he likes; the storage space available, the dark and minimalistic style and that it has a transparent top which means that he can easily see his watches. However, both designs also have components he wishes to improve; the watch cushion is too visible, compartments aren’t lined with textiles and the lack of handles.

Innovation 

The next stage of the design process is innovation. I have accumulated client feedback and done further research towards the design needs, through utilising designer’s methods and sensibility, this has allowed me to look at my proposed design in various approaches (market and client) to further meet my specifications. 

Modelling/Prototyping

I have made a real life scale model of my design using a cardboard in order to visualise the suitable shapes and sizes. The cardboard model helped me understand the different components in my design and how each component interacts with each other, eg. the drawer and the main box. 

Problem solving

I used my cardboard model and once I have detected any changes I want to make, I developed my ideas on CAD (Autodesk Fusion 360). One of the changes I made was that for the drawer component, the sides should be open in order to easily open the drawer as there is a place where the user’s hand can be placed (can be seen in development #1). 

Iterative development 

To meet the aesthetic of my success criteria- to have a modern and minimalist look and for it to be dark, I experimented with different materials and finished in order to satisfy the criteria. For the consideration of materials, I looked at the disadvantages and advantages of each material with the criteria in mind, this helped kind my choices into the right direction for the product. 

I also broke down the different components of my design to look at the logistics of how everything will work together. I chose the option that best suited my success criteria and the function of my design. 

Client feedback/Further research 

When choosing what materials/methods I’m going to be using in my design, I always kept my success criteria in mind- this has helped me make decisions that line up with what my client needs. 

To find the best ways to proceed with my design, I did some research on the materials as well as the joining methods. With the research, it helped me understand which ones are better for my ideas. I also was able to explore different ideas through the knowledge of what is available in the market. 

Planning for production 

In this stage of the design process, I illustrated the technical details and assembly of my design using CAD (Autodesk Fusion 360). With my illustration, third parties in the design and engineering fields will be able to interpret my intended design in order to produce this product. 

Orthographic projection 

The orthographic projection helps me communicate my intended design to anyone who intends to make my product. The orthographic projections show all the measurements of each component and the technical details in order to join the components together. 

Exploded to show all assembly 

This is the exploded view of my intended design. The drawing helps demonstrate how each component will work together and all the layers of this design. 

The Bill of Materials can also be seen, it shows the material to be used and the dimensions needed in order to make the product. 

Presentation Drawing 

The presentation above shows my intended final product and how it should look once all the components are put together. I have displayed the different views of my design to have a greater understanding of it. I used CAD (Autodesk Fusion 360) in order to do this. 

Detailed plan for the manufacture of the product

Once I finished making the Bill of Materials and showed the orthographic drawing, I made a detailed plan for production. The plan consists of the order of operations, the technical details of tools, processes, quality control and health and safety/risk considerations. 

This is my production plan. My design has 4 separate components and I have included detailed sequences on the production of my product. This will help me stay on track and efficiently go through the process, as the tools are already stated and how to use them as well as the safety precautions that should be taken inconsideration.

Realisation 

Here are the stages I underwent in order to produce my product.

Testing and Evaluation

The last stage of the design process is testing and evaluating. This is to ensure that my product has met my success criteria and client specifications. 

One way I tested my product was through testing and evaluating in the intended environment. 

Here I tested my final product against my success criteria (which includes the client specifications). I focused on three specifications and looked at the advantages/disadvantages of my design as well as if it met the specifications (specific to intended environment). 

Another way I evaluated my final design was against my specification (success criteria). In order to measure the success I used a number scoring system- 0= Not Met, 1= Met, 2= Exceeds. 

My client also evaluated my product and gave me feedback. My client gave me comments and also used the number scoring system to provide me a way to measure my success against the criteria. My client serves as a representation of the feedback to better the product if this was mass produced for the intended users. 

The main feedback my client had was that he wanted to have a knob component/handle. This component was initially supposed to be in my product, however, it did not go with the aesthetic of my design. 

Lastly, with the accumulation of all the feedback from me and my client I made a proposal for future developments. This included things that I would change, like; material, joining method, shape and form, and the function (knob). I also designed a new version of my product that I would use as a starting idea if I further developed this product. 

Conclusion

This design thinking process has allowed me to utilise design skills like technical skills (researching, prototyping and CAD/CAM) as well as soft skills (empathy, problem solving and creativity). 

In the future, I can use skills that I have learned in this project to better manage the project. In this project I had to manage my time and also the production process, as I decide how it will be made (with the supervision and suggestion of the DT department). This project is an accumulation of two years worth of work and the final product had to be presented through a documentation of the whole process in detail. I had to organise my time wisely to finish this and I had to organise all the work I’ve done to best represent the process I underwent. 

Overall, this experience will be very beneficial to me in a lot of aspects in my life. From technical skills like using the software CAD/CAM to being empathetic and problem solving.