Identification of Problem / design opportunities

How to complete the Spreadsheet / Table that you will find further below

What is a Need

A need is... Why is there a need for the product that you are thinking about? i.e. (I would like to design a product to clean the air and remove the PM2.5 from the area that I work) so the Need for that anxiety is for clean, breathable air in polluted areas so that the user is not damaging their lungs.

What is a Want

A want is... Something that you wish for to improve your life in some way, whether that be superficial or real i.e. I want an attachment for my mothers wheelchair so that she able to quickly clamp items onto the chair which will free up her hands. This could be a clamp to hold a battery powered fan so that she can cool herself down during very hot days (real), OR I want a new bedside table in my bedroom as I am bored with my current one and I want something that looks cool and modern (Superficial).

What is an Opportunity

An opportunity is... This can be an opportunity to improve an existing product in some way i.e. to make it better or to add new features to it that you think would benefit it; OR there is an opportunity in the market to add in a new design that does something but in a better way i.e. Dyson brought out the fanless hair dryer but there are already lots of hairdryers in the market. So why did they do this? They saw an opportunity to make the hairdryer better by removing the traditional fan and replacing it with their cyclone technology as well as better control of the heat. 

https://www.dyson.co.th/en-TH/products/hair-care/dyson-supersonic-hair-dryer/overview

How I identifIed the design situation 

• I was using the product and I thought that it could be better if it did...

• I saw a product in a shop and I thought that it was really good but...

• Bloom - the art of growing your own herbs (Italian Basil) or salad produce at home, for working professionals, within an apartment or condominium block - a hydroponic garden. The Need / Opportunity / Want is to be able to grow your own produce in an apartment that does not have a garden. This problem was identified as Italian (sweet) basil is hard to find in the supermarkets in Thailand and I regularly cook with it or make my own pesto sauce. I have no garden space outside, and growing basil is very difficult. The likely outcome will probably be a small, adjustable product that can generate the right kind of growing light for basil. The herb does not grow too large so it can be a typical kitchen product size.

• I constantly get annoyed by...

• I was in a situation where I thought that it would be great if I had X right now i.e. I was on holiday for 3 days with my family and we were camping in tents. My phone, and my family's devices started to lose battery life and I wished that I had a battery recharger to power up these devices. It would need to be powerful enough and contain enough charge to refill all of our devices. What if I had a recharging device that could use solar power or another renewable energy source. The Biolite Campstove (below) is a perfect example of this - https://uk.bioliteenergy.com/collections#campstove-family

Who is your Client or User Group

A Client or User Group is the person(s) or group of people that you are intending to design for - It is always better / recommended / easier to design for others than to design for yourself! A group of people could be all of a similar age i.e. teenagers, elderly; a similar income i.e. wealthy, low income, business people; young families; grandparents; people with an impairment or disability etc.; single parents, young mothers etc.

The more you know about your Client or User Group the more this will help you to design something appropriate and you can use the Client's likes to help you to design. 

For example: The client's apartment is in Bangkok. His family live in a modern luxury apartment in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. They have large glass windows with modern, contemporary furnishings and like natural materials such as hardwoods, alongside neutral cloths, brushed aluminium and brass. They have a wide range of modern electrical appliances throughout the home. The client also owns a number of 'luxury' cars and motorbikes including a Tesla Model X, a BMW i8, a BMW R18 motorbikes and so inspiration could be taken from those products.

https://sites.google.com/rugbyschool.ac.th/rstdt-usb-lifestyle-hub/coursework-major-project/design-ideas/design-ideas-how-to-generate?authuser=0

What is a Target Market

Your Target Market is very similar to your Client or User Group. A target market can be defined as designing for women; designing for teenagers; designing for young people; designing for the elderly etc. etc. etc.

What does a Likely Outcome mean

A likely outcome is what you think the product could potentially look like. i.e. if you are solving a problem of not enough light to read a book then the likely outcome would be a reading lamp / light of some kind. If you state that you wish to use certain materials then that could be a reading lamp made from teak and brass (not wood or metal!), with a brushed finish, that can move and change the angle of the light.

Pros and Cons - explained

What are the positives outcomes or objectives about doing a project like this and are there any negatives or barriers that you will have to overcome in order to solve the problem.

Positives could be: encouraging young people to eat healthy food; allowing a wheelchair user to have an attachment for a range of products, to teach new skills, lots of potential design possibilities, encourage activity etc. etc.

Negatives could be: complexity, size (very large), difficulty in using materials i.e. use of metals, use of advanced electrinics, programming knowledge etc. 

Notes 

This is just an area to add any more information that you feel is important or to highlight anything

Example of a completed table

Below is an outstanding student example, identifying six potential projects. This is then refined down to two to explore much further.

The two examples below are an Outstanding way to present the table information. It does not take that much longer to create and present but it looks so well communicated and is easier to understand for the examiner. Note that not all of the ideas are good projects!

The example slides below take one of the initial design opportunities / problems (above) and analyse in more detail, and helps to explain the focus of your major project. You use data / research to help support your project choice.