1IntroductiontoDesignandtheConceptDevelopmentProcess

Whatisdesign?
Dependingontheindustrywearetalkingabout,designcanhavemanydifferentdefinitions.Most
generally,designisaprocessfordeliberatelycreatingaproducttomeetasetofneeds.Mobile
appdevelopmentrequiresbothengineeringdesignandproductdesign.Engineeringdesign
focusesonphysics,suchasspeed,massandotherperformancemeasureswhileproduct
designalsoconsidersuserandconsumersbyaskingwhattheuserwantsinaproduct.

Havethestudentsdiscuss
1. Whatisdesign?
2. Pickanappthatyourefamiliarwithwasitdesigned?Whydoyousaythat?Howdoyou
thinkitwasdesigned?Whodoyouthinkdesignedit?
3. Whatproducts/mobileapplicationsa)workb)donotworkandwhy?

Conceptdevelopmentprocess
Inthischapter,wewillfocusonconceptdevelopmentandthefirsttwoofitsthreecomponents:
clarifyingrequirements,conceptgenerationandconceptselection.

Figure1Thedesignprocesswiththethreedetailedstagesofconceptdevelopment

Theinitialconceptdevelopmentprocessisimportantbecauseabetterdesignprocessleadsto
abetterdesignoutcome.Decisionsmadeduringtheearlystagesofdesigntightlyconstrain
futureoptions.Itisestimatedthat70%costofaproductisdeterminedinthefirst30%ofthe
designcycle.


Figure2Earlyphasedecisionstightlyconstrainfuturechoices

Waystoinnovate
Therearethreemainsourcesofinnovation:technology,marketandusers.Thoughinreality,all
productsareacombinationofmorethanonesource.

Technology:Innovationcanbeachievedthroughanewformoftechnology,eitherbycreatingor
utilisingit.Inventinganewtechnologycanbeslowduetothenatureofresearchand
developmentandisoftenariskyprocessfinancially.Thebetteroptionistothinkwehaveanew
technology,whatisitgoodfor?Inthiscase,MITAppInventorisournewtechnologyanditis
goodforcreatingAndroidapps,thusnarrowingdownthetypeofproductwewillcreate.

Market:Marketinnovationscomefromchangesinthemarket.Thesechangescanbechanges
indemographictrends,suchasagingbabyboomers,orchangesincompetitors.TheGalaxy
TabletwasinventedwhenSamsungscompetitor,Apple,cameoutwiththeiPad.Market
innovations.Marketinspiredproductdesignsareoftenbasedonexistingproductconcepts.

Users:Productneedscanbefoundbyobservinganindividual.Itdoesnotnecessarilyassumea
preexistingconcept.Whileobservationprocesscanrequireonlyafewparticipants,theresult
maynotberepresentative.

ClassObjectives
1. Basictheoryforproductdesignanddevelopment
a. Designmethodologyconceptgeneration/creativity,conceptselection
b. Gooddesignprocessgenerallyleadstogooddesignoutcome
2. Principlesofdesignrepresentation

a. Sketches,prototypeslanguageofdesign
b. Communication,ideaevaluation
c. Craftsmanship,engineeringexcellence
3. Workingwithstakeholders
a. Gatheruserneedsevaluatedesignswithuserfeedback

Therearethreeoverallclassgoalsforthisdesigncurriculum.Firstly,itwillteachbasictheoryfor
productdesignanddevelopment.Wewilldiscussthedesignmethodologyincludingconcept
generation/creativityandconceptselection,asagooddesignprocessgenerallyleadstoagood
designoutcome.Secondly,wewilltouchuponprinciplesofdesignrepresentationspecificto
mobileappdevelopment,suchassketches,prototypes,communicationandideaevaluation.
Lastly,wewilllearntoworkwithstakeholders,gatheringuserneedsandevaluatingdesignswith
userfeedback.

Designlogbooks
Allofyourstudentsinanappdevelopmentcourseshouldhaveadesignlogbook.Theyshouldbe
filledwithtext,sketches,calculations,estimatesandanythingthatisremotelyrelevanttotheir
projects.Designlogbookscanbeusedtorecordthinkingonaproject,tocaptureideassothey
willnotbeforgotten,toexploreandtestideasandtopreserveintellectualproperty.Forgood
practice,encouragestudentstopurchasepaddednotebooks(nonspiral)sothatpagescannot
betornout(forthesakeofpreservingintellectualproperty),tokeepthenotebookonthemin
caseideasstrike,andtosignanddatepages.

Conceptgeneration
Conceptgenerationistheprocessofgeneratingnewideas.Itissupposedtobesyntheticrather
thananalytical.Thepurposeisnottojudgethefeasibilityofsolutionsbutinsteadtokeepcoming
upwithideasregardlessofpracticality.Thisapproachisoftendifferenttowhatstudentsare
taughtintheirmathandscienceclasses,asthereisnorightanswerinbrainstormingandthey
aretonotthinkcriticallyabouttheirsolutions.

Therearefourstepsinthecreativeprocess.
1. Preparationcollectinginformationaboutaproblem
2. Incubationunconsciousrecombinationofideas(requiresconsciousthinkingaboutthe
problem)
3. Illuminationmomentofinspiration
4. Verificationimplementation/testingoftheidea

Forexample,usingthecreativeprocesstodecreasecaraccidentsbycreatingtheMITApp
Inventorapp,NoTextingWhileDriving:
1. PreparationLargestcauseofaccidents?Numberofteensthatdrinkanddrive?Text
anddrive?
2. Incubation*thinkingintheshower*
3. Illuminationideas:pushnotificationsoniPhoneswithreminderstoputonseatbelt,to

notdrinkanddriveetc.,carswithbreathalyserattachments,appthatreadstext
messagesaloudwhiledriving
4. Verificationtestingthetextmsgreadingapplication:createtheapplicationorsimulate
theexperiencebyhavingsomeonereadtextmessagesoutloudtothedriver.

Creativityrequiresfluency(largeamountsofideas),flexibilityofideas(rangeofideas)and
originality.Itisimportanttonotfocusonpracticallywhengeneratingideas.Doingsowould
impedetheflowofideasandimpracticalideasoftenpointtowardmorepracticaloptions.
Commonproblemsthatoccurwhenbrainstormingincludeusingthefirstideathatpopsup,
inadequatecompetitivereview,notinvolvingentireteaminprocessandmissingpotentially
strongsolutions.

Havestudentsbrainstormingroupof34,whatfutureclassroomswouldlooklike.Givethem8
minutes.Askthemtopresenttheirfavoriteanswerwiththeclass.
Tellstudentstobrainstormwiththefollowingguidelines:
Aimforlargenumberofideas
Ignorepractically
Settimelimit
Setaim
Appointfacilitator
Onepersonatatime
Individualbrainstormfirst