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Criteria to evaluate success

HSC Outcome H4.3: evaluates the processes undertaken and the impacts of the major design project

Criteria for evaluation relates to the assessment of the features of products, systems and environments planned for and developed in design and technology.

Areas for consideration include:

• appropriateness of design solutions
• functionality
• aesthetics
• ergonomics
• use of energy, recyclability
• safety
• cost
• comparison with existing products
• durability and obsolescence
• life cycle analysis.

What factors will I need to consider when designing and producing?

When beginning a process of design, the designer must determine what will be the features of the solution which will ensure that it satisfies the identified need, want or opportunity.
In clarifying this, some other questions that could be asked are:

• What factors must I consider for the design to function satisfactorily?
  Properties such as strength, cost, size, durability, ergonomics, safety, ecological sustainability, ease of care and usage need to be considered carefully and evaluated. The most important property requirements need to be identified and priorities set. Design usually involves compromise and risk. By using the design process designers determine what is achievable.
  
  
• What aesthetic qualities will my design need to have?
  All designed products, systems and environments as well as reflecting the values and attitudes of the designer, clients and users elicit emotional or sensory responses from the people who use them. An important function of marketing and design is to identify what might be the likely attitudes and responses from audiences or users for whom the product, system or environment is intended.
  The aesthetic qualities which are appropriate will vary considerably, depending upon what the design is to be used for, and who will use it.
  Some factors which contribute to the aesthetic qualities include colour, shape, line, texture and user friendliness.
  
  
• What may be the short and long term consequences of my planned design?
  Designers are increasingly being made responsible and accountable for the short and long term consequences of their designs. Designers must consider how their design may affect the user, society and the environment now and into the future.
  
  
• How will I be able to evaluate the success of a design project?
  In the Design Project you undertake, you will need to establish criteria which clearly state the most important functional and aesthetic features of the intended design. Once established you and your teacher can use the criteria to guide future decisions, eg if an important quality is strength, then you will need to experiment to establish which materials and techniques can best provide strength to the design.
  You need to refer continually to this criteria in order to determine whether your project is progressing satisfactorily.
  The examiners for the Major Design Project will refer to the criteria established in the Project Proposal when considering the success of the project.

Student Activity

Investigate how different people, in interacting with a new product, system or environment, determine its success, eg consider the role of the designer, the producer, the marketer, the user and people it impacts upon indirectly such as neighbours, environmentalists. You could undertake a life cycle analysis of specific products, systems or environments to determine the total cost in terms of resource usage from 'cradle to grave', ie from conception to obsolescence.