OUTCOMES

What makes a good design? Why are some designs hugely successful while others are doomed to failure? We tend to measure the success of a design by its success in the market or the amount of profit it generates. Design failures may refer to products that have not only failed to make money for the designer or manufacturer but may have caused harm to the user. Alternatively, through a process of evaluating the solution as the design process is evolving, the solution may not be performing as desired, or the materials being used may not be as durable as initially thought. Although failure, or ‘trial and error’, is an expected and unavoidable part of an iterative design process, we must work through and resolve any identified issues to develop confidence in the design’s ability to meet the need. Any design flaws need to be addressed within the design process as allowing flaws to be evident in the finished product can become a very costly exercise.

DESIGN FAILURES AND SUCCESSES

What causes some products to fail in the marketplace while others succeed? There is no one answer to this question, though some common factors should be considered:

Insufficient market research can result in poor assessment of the market’s needs. Designers need to know exactly what the situation is, what the consumers want and to be sure that their competitors’ products are not meeting those needs more effectively or economically
Insufficient testing during the product development phase. Research, testing and design modification are costly but ensure an end product that is reliable and fit for purpose. Costs to the business after mass production could be much greater!
Lack of a suitable market. Sometimes the market is flooded with similar products. Consumers need a point of difference to make them select a product. Careful market segmentation and target marketing techniques to ensure information about a new product reaches the right group of consumers are essential to the success of the product.

There are many examples of design failures that we can learn from. Failure is an important and sometimes sad way that we learn. As humans continue to design, innovate and produce, there will continue to be mistakes or considerations that we can learn from. At the time of writing this chapter, there are current investigations such as the Boeing 737 Max 8 that may identify design faults; The Opal Towers in Sydney; and the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London. New innovations sometimes are ahead of current laws or societal expectations. As a result, designs may suffer from a backlash as people are not used to the existence of such technology or a product. Recent examples of this were the concerns over Google Glass’s video recording without people being aware or the dumping and vandalism experienced by bike sharing companies in Australia.

Google glass: what went wrong

https://www.livemint.com/technology/google-glass-bids-adieu-here-s-what-went-wrong-with-wearable-11679031483850.html

Takata Airbag Racall: Case study 13.1 see p158 of text.

Design successes can be considered the products, systems and environments that assist society’s continuing development and growth. They may be small and simple (like the ballpoint pen) or complex and potentially dangerous (like nuclear reactors). In some circumstances their ‘success’ is viewed retrospectively as the innovation itself may not have been successful to begin with; however, it has become successful in its application to another situation.

Agricultural robots helping farmers, feeding the world: case study 13.2 p159 (complete activity 13.5)

H1.2

relates the practices and processes of designers and producers to the major design project

• Analysis: Identification of the need or opportunity; analysis of the problem; initial consultation with the client; development of the design brief

• Investigation: Initial research and consultation to establish constraints and parameters and generate ideas

• Ideas and possible solutions: Development of a range of ideas or solutions in response to the need or problem

• Research and testing: Relevant research and testing including design solution testing and prototyping to determine the best solution and ensure that it will work or solve the problem

• Modification and refinement: Development of the design; modifications in response to results of research and testing to improve the solution

• Realisation: Production of the final design or best solution to meet the identified need or opportunity

• Evaluation: Ongoing throughout design and construction; checking the outcome against the identified need or opportunity to determine the level of success

H2.1 explains the influence of trends in society on design and production

trends in designing and producing, including those which are influenced by social, global, political, economic and environmental issues

historical and cultural influences on designing and producing, including:

- changing social trends

- cultural diversity

- the changing nature of work

technological change

Social and cultural influence

In design, culture plays a critical role in determining the colors, shapes, patterns, and overall aesthetic of a design. For example, certain colors may be considered auspicious or lucky in one culture, while they may be seen as unlucky in another.

Political influences

Governments and politicians are great at making speeches and writing policy, but notoriously slow to act and inefficient when they do. The not-for-profit sector have tried their best, but don’t have the scale or funds required to tackle the problem at scale. Maybe it’s the innate entrepreneur in me but I still believe to this day that it’s going to be innovate, young, hungry startups who solve the global plastic problem. They’re the only ones with enough cunning, determination and mongrel to get in, roll up their sleeves and get down and dirty figuring out the complex solutions that will be required to solve this big complex global problem.

Mike-Zero.co

Technologial influences

Architectural renderings

consider how technology is used in every way in architectural renderings

AI designed car

Environmental influences

how do environmental factprs shape deisgn?

Ethics (C) TM (R) Patent

An ethical framework—“a way of structuring your deliberation about ethical questions”—can help to bridge disparate worlds and discourses and help them work well together. Ethical questions might include: “Is this platform / product actually providing a social good?” or “Am I harming/including the user in the creation of this new solution?” or even “Do I have a right to be taking claim of this space at all?” This helps us form value-based collaborations—and allows us to better assess and monitor our work.

Innovation is humanistic: solving big problems through human ingenuity, imagination and entrepreneurialism that can come from anywhere
Innovation is non-hierarchical: drawing ideas from many different sources and incubating small, agile teams to test and iterate on them with user feedback
Innovation is participatory: designing with (not for) real people.
Innovation is sustainable: building skills even if most individual endeavors will ultimately fail in their societal goals

Council Post: 10 Current And Potential Ethical Crises In The Tech IndustryPaired with the undeniable benefits of widespread technology use are ethical concerns about everything from privacy to human behavior to the environment.

IP-Copyright-knowledge - Target LearningFind out about Intellectual Property, copyright, trademark, design registration and patent for Visual Communication Design.

rights and responsibilities of a designer.

• Safety – End-user – During production – WHS

• Ethical issues – Conduct – Moral concerns – Appropriate material selection – Production techniques – Use of resources

• Legal implications – Ensuring adherence to standards and codes – Confidentiality

• Intellectual Property – Designer has the right to have their design protected – Responsibility to not copy existing products/designs

• Inclusive where possible – Consideration of minority groups

• Cultural appropriateness

• Environmental Issues – Ecological footprint – Life cycle analysis – Awareness of environmental impact

• Ease of use

• Up-skilling/training

• Working conditions – Make a profit – Work in a safe environment – Protected by law/legislation – Work to award conditions.

H3.1 analyse the factors that influence innovation and the success of innovation

factors that impact on the success of innovation include:

timing

available and emerging technologies

historical and cultural

political

economic and legal factors

marketing strategies

what is an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurial Activity relates to the overall management of innovation

Entrepreneurial Activity associated with design and technology involve:

1. Conducting research on the uniqueness of the concept and establishing whether a need exists.

2. Establishing a market opportunity for the design - to find an area in the range of goods and services which is not yet served.

3. Organisation and gaining of resources - people with expertise, financial backing, correct facilities, management plan.

4. Conducting research and development - fine tuning the design concept as well as developing manufacturing techniques.

5. Protecting the final design by securing intellectual property.

6. Organisation of the supply of components, raw materials and labour.

7. Manufacturing of the design (if the innovation is a product)

8. Advertising - the best in the world will not succeed if nobody knows about it!

9. Organisation of sales, distributing and servicing - entrepreneurs regard the customer as always right.

Entrepreneurial activity is vital to the success of innovation design in terms of providing financial, research and development and marketing support.

Designers may not have the skills to undertake entrepreneurial activity and thus have to seek others that have these skills.

H6.2 critically assesses the emergence and impact of new technologies, and the factors affecting their development.

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