The lecture provided a clear understanding of the core aspects about creating a design document for a project. Design document serves as the bible for any project, providing the analytical and design functions of a project to the stakeholders, designers and clients. A design document clearly identifies needs and establishes the requirements, the conceptual and physical design specifications. It outlines the systematic approach for design and development of a project. It tells the story about the physical and conceptual development of the product.
The first step in designing a product to identify the needs and wants of the users. Then, prioritise the needs and consider the wants. The whole design process is iterative in which the requirements are established, prototype is created and evaluated, problem areas in the design are identified, revised prototype is created and again evaluated, again redesign is done if problems identified and finally the final product is created which is free from errors or issues. The first step or the base of designing a product is identifying the needs of the users, this creates a strong base for the project and decreases the chances of failure in the design.
Jo showed many examples good design that were functional, fun and awesome. The EXO Reaction Housing solution was the best of it all, that gave a very practical and important option for housing needs during natural disasters. It solves the housing problem plus, the storage and use is very easy and apt. Then, there was the chair example which made learning a less of a drab and more fun and focus. I learnt how classic designs became solutions, designers being inspired by classic objects to create innovative and practical solutions. Designing is about identifying the problems and learning from mistakes. It is about learning from mistakes and existing solutions, evaluating and designing and re-evaluation and designing to get an ultimate solution.
I learnt about the various types of design documents such as style guides, storyboards, flowcharts, style boards and scripts. Design document is a systematic and organised approach to all the aspects of a product. A design document outlines how your product will look and how valuable it is conceptually.
IMM4125 Learning Portfolio 