Identifying and analysing a product for improvement

Marking Criteria

Evidence to be submitted

To be successful and achieve a Level 4 submission you must provide the following evidence for your chosen product improvement:

(a) Identification of a suitable product to improve, with supporting justified evidence

This should include the following:

• A description of the product identified, including photographs and / or sketches 

• Evidence to justify the selection of the product. This evidence could include: the product does not work well or function as intended; additional features can be added to the product identified; poor sales / not a popular product; the product is outdated; newer technology would improve the product.

(b) Analysis of the product and how it functions

This should include the following:

• consideration of the original design situation or need i.e. what was the original design brief do you think

• analysis of intended functions of the product for potential users i.e. what did the product have to do

(c) Analysis of the users

This should include the following:

• identification of users / target group

• identification of user needs

• ergonomic features

• aesthetics

(d) Analysis of the materials used

This should include the following:

• properties required

• cost and availability (if relevant)

• recyclable alternatives

• sustainable alternatives

(e) Analysis of the production processes

This should include the following:

• production processes

• scale of production (individual (one-off), batch or mass)

• cost considerations

• environmental considerations

(f) Analysis of the safety features

This should include the following:

• health and safety considerations, both during manufacture and in the use of the product

• quality control standards applicable (such as use of non-toxic paints or electricity safety) and quality assurance

(g) Analysis of the cultural and social factors

This should include the following:

• variations to the product to meet different customer needs

• fashion and trends

• inclusive design

• impact / influence from cultural and social factors / values

• impact / influence from design movements

(h) Analysis of the economic factors

This should include the following:

• costs involved in the production of the product

• resources / materials used to produce the product

• energy used to produce the product

• workforce costs to produce the product

(i) Analysis of the environmental factors

This should include the following:

• sustainable / recyclable alternative materials

• conservation issues, including extraction, processing and disposal

• sustainability

• energy used during production and in use

• end of life disposal implications

So what do you have to do?

First you need to identifiy a few possible products that you feel have a weakness or that you have identified that need improvement. You then need to present that information (in a table) or seperate slides stating:

• Present evidence to justify the selection of the product. This evidence could include: – the product does not work well / function as intended; – additional features can be added to the product identified; – poor sales / not a popular product; – the product is outdated; – newer technology would improve the product etc. etc.

This is similar in many ways to your IGCSE project where you needed to identify suitable projects. The more detail you go into at this stage will help you to select a better product to improve.

You need to look at products that you could improve in terms of: function, ergonomics, safety or sustainability

I would advise starting your project by identifying a number of possible project ideas and researching these (as above) before deciding upon which to take forward (following a discussion with myself or Mrs Douglas). Then you will complete the full analysis and research tasks (a) through to (i) to ensure that you can achieve a Level 4. You WILL have to get the product that you are improving.

i.e. If you were to decide upon improving a computer mouse, then you could purchase one that you identify as not being very good (reasons above: does not work well, is not ergonomic, materials are not sustainable, additional features, poor sales, outdated etc.) and then 'strip' all of the components out (or even buy some new ones - there are many places to get these) and then redesign it to be better (one of: more ergonomic, sustainable, improved function). You should research, and find data to support your reasons, as to what happens to old computer mice when they are thrown away?; what happens to the material?; what happens to the electronics? etc. (Land fill) and this could justify your reason (Rationale) as to why you are going to improve the product by making it more sustainable for example. You could easily come up with a range of designs and lots of test foam models for ergonomics to develop. You could then model using Onshape, desiging around the existing components (or new ones) so that everything fits. By using the existing components of the 'stripped' mouse this should guarantee that the product still works and that you can fully TEST to ensure that you have made an Improvement! This could be a really good project!


Think of other products like the computer mouse that you could re-engineering and re-design to be better?