The Challenge of Product Design Flashcards
What is a Technology Readiness Level (TRL)?
A measure of a product’s maturity.
What is ergonomics?
Design for human use/interface
What is aesthetics?
Design for beauty
What is product design?
A mix of engineering design and industrial design.
What is industrial design?
Aesthetics + ergonomics + safety + reliability
How many TRLs are there, usually?
9
A product uses a new technology, the infinibudulum. How many TRLs must it pass through?
9
When a product uses an existing technology, what TRL does it typically start from?
TRL 4, small scale prototype
What TRLs do universities typically deal with?
0 - 4
What TRLs does industry usually handle?
2 - 9
State a known unknown.
A safety margin - some safety margins can be less than originally thought.
State an unknown unknown .
Loading cases that cannot be predicted (e.g. a giant sits on the car, in the case of automotive design)
What are the three sources of complexity in a product’s development?
- Complexity of the product itself.
- Complexity of organisations.
- Complexity of documentation.
Give an example of eight objectives an automotive engineer might consider when designing a car.
- Technical performance.
- Cost.
- Ergonomics.
- Safety.
- Reliability.
- Luxury.
- Environment.
- Aesthetics.
What are the 7 key challenges of product design?
- Many stages required to develop a new product.
- Products are complicated.
- Products have multiple objectives, some of which may conflict.
- Customers expect their products to be reliable.
- Retaining knowledge can be difficult.
- Form may not align with function.
- Products be designed to meet the needs of the environment as well as people.
