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Designing and producing

Getting started: How to begin your major design project (MDP)

Introduction

Every year HSC Design and Technology students complete a major design project (MDP). These projects range in quality from inspirational to those that would benefit from a greater design component. The aim of this tutorial is to help you establish your initial project direction, so you have plenty of opportunity for inspirational designing and hence every chance at gaining maximum marks in the HSC.

Outcomes

This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcome:

H4.1 The student identifies a need or opportunity and researches and explores ideas for design development and production of the major design project.

Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Design and Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)

Some general wisdom

The famous designer Terrence Conran once said that any product ever made by man or woman has been designed. With this scope in mind, the possible options for an HSC major design project are almost endless. All products, systems and environments need to be designed by someone at some stage, and hence have the potential for being a successful MDP. But before diving into what you believe is the dream project, here are a few general points to consider:

  1. In simple terms, the MDP is a large HSC assessment task used to assess outcomes. It follows the same rules as any other school-based tasks. As with any assessment task, the main aim should be to achieve the best possible results towards the final HSC mark.

  2. Starting a design project with a fixed idea of what you want as the end result may stifle innovative design. Innovative design is one of the most important features of a successful MDP. Be willing to try new approaches, to change your mind constantly to solve problems as part of the design process and even take some risks. The end result should be one of a kind, a unique solution to a problem or need.

  3. Choose a project that interests you. It is easier to immerse yourself in the design process when you are enthusiastic. Keep your project within your capability but be prepared to learn and document new skills along the way. Try to maintain a high standard in all aspects of the MDP.
  4. Taking on a specific design brief for someone else can be very challenging and may create issues that you don't want to deal with while at the same time trying to achieve a good mark. A client may be very certain about what they want, and may be less willing to innovate than you. They might get what they want, but you may limit your opportunities to access maximum marks.

    It is possible to take on someone else's design brief, for example, make a standing frame for a disabled child. However, make it clear that this is to be your design and their input should be limited to specific technical and functional aspects that impact directly on the viability of the end product.

  5. Avoid a final product that is just like something you can buy from a local shop or is just like the MDP completed by a student the year before. If it is a simple design, use alternate materials that are innovative, exotic or unusual. If you need to use cheaper materials due to a limited budget, use innovative processes to form the project and finish them in a creative way.
  6. Select decorative design features to enhance the product's marketability. The features should be supported by research into possible target market expectations. Avoid adding unnecessary features to make a design more visually interesting. Design away the less interesting elements.

  7. Choose a project that you can complete with the resources you have available. Out-sourcing can be expensive, time consuming, hard to justify and limits the opportunity to build your own skill base. Avoid out-sourcing unless it is absolutely vital to the success of your project, and it is absolutely impossible for you to do yourself or safety is an issue. For example, fibre glassing can be very difficult to do on your own and you may risk ruining the appearance of the MDP if it is not done well.
  8. Choose a project that in real world terms could be completed by a Year 12 student. A complete hotel design, new highway bridge or an 18-hole golf course would take a team of designers, engineers and draftsmen months or even years to complete. You will not be able to cover all the aspects required in a project like this to the depth that would need to be covered. Be aware of this, you may choose to design portions of a whole project, or give ideas for the whole project and then just concentrate on one or a few sections of interest.

These are just some general hints to help you select a MDP, they are by no means course rules and you should read carefully the MDP marking criteria that is in the syllabus (see syllabus button). Considering this advice will help make the MDP less stressful for both you and your teacher.

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Two possible approaches for selecting an MDP

One of the biggest problems for students approaching a MDP is the initial selection of a project idea. A lot of hesitation and uncertainty can be minimised by remembering to focus on the most important outcome of the project: a project which addresses fully all the MDP examination criteria and follows a design process.

Below are two ways for initiating a design brief with plenty of room for creativity, which with hard work and commitment can help address the MDP examination criteria.

Approach 1: Invention

Being the person to stumble upon a brilliant new invention has the potential to be a fantastic MDP. The difficulty with this approach appears when you ask yourself the question, "What hasn't been invented yet?" Try it, and see what happens. Answering this simple question is almost impossible.

The most likely way you will discover a genuine need for a new invention is by asking people around you to identify activities they are involved with which are missing a certain crucial element. People will always have specific needs around the house, in the garden or down in the shed. Workers in industry will have a good knowledge of what is available in their fields, and will be able to point out possibly obscure missing links. You may even have a specific need yourself related to a hobby, sport or leisure activity that has been niggling at you for ages. Consider the needs of these people:

"I wish I could buy oven mitts that don't slip off the casserole dish, but I just can't seem to find them."

"No-one seems to sell anything that will prevent stone chips on my pushbike when it is on the roof-rack."

"There's nowhere in my ski-boat to put my sunglasses when I'm driving."

Activity 1

  1. Write down a list of the needs people have identified. Use a mind map to explore the ideas further.
  2. For each of these needs, do some market research to see if there are any existing solutions on the market. See the tutorial: Researching your innovation case study for some tips on research.

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If there is a range of high quality, effective, and cost effective solutions out there already, there's little point devoting a whole project to it. You've heard the saying: Don't re-invent the wheel.

If there are existing solutions on the market, but they are ineffective, overly expensive, unattractive or don't really solve the problem effectively, they are perfect candidates for re-invention (see below).

But if, after lots of research, you really can't find anything that fills that gap, start inventing.

Approach 2: Re-invention

Innovative design can also be incorporated into the everyday products we overlook because of their familiarity. There are many examples of existing designs that are poorly made, ineffective, uncomfortable, ugly or just plain boring. Think about these comments:

"Why can't anyone make a washing-up mop where the handle doesn't come off after two weeks?"

"My coffee plunger spurts if you plunge too fast."

"Why do all potato peelers either look good and not work, or work well but look hideous?"

"I'm left-handed and there are so many pieces of equipment that don't meet my needs."

"Why are most existing knife blocks, even those sold with expensive knives, usually rectangular, ugly and made from pine?"

"Why does my music stand need to look like a Hill's Hoist, when my new Maton guitar is such a work of art?"

The history of design shows a constant change in looks, style and materials. There are very few products that haven't evolved over time. The hard part is creating the next new look, when you are so accustomed to what surrounds you now. Making this risky leap is what re-inventive design is all about. It's also important that the new design still functions. There is no point in something looking fantastic if it doesn't perform as well as intended, for example, a jug that looks fantastic but doesn't pour well or is very slow to boil.

Activity 2

If you want some good ideas about re-invention:

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Innovation and creativity are crucial for a re-invention project, even more so than the relatively clean-slate approach of invention. One way of establishing a re-invention project, in a way that frees you from preconceived ideas and leaves you open for creativity, is by analysing the product you would like to re-invent, and reducing it to its simplest concept, components, function or form.

Activity 3

Read the following statements then try applying the strategy to one of your own design ideas.

"I won't design a dining table, I'll design a raised eating surface."

"I won't design a formal dress, I'll design a fashion statement for a black tie event."

"I won't design a coat rack, I'll design a hat storage and retrieval system."

"I won't design a rocking chair, I'll design a free moving seating platform.

To many people, this method of re-wording a design brief might seem like splitting hairs. But it can help to remove preconceived ideas from your own mind, leading to a more efficient and creative thought process. It can also, further down the track, remove preconceptions from the minds of others, and create a higher level of interest and a greater openness to understanding your ideas.

A few final words

Hopefully this tutorial has started you thinking, and may even speed up the process of initiating an interesting and fulfilling major design project. Just a few points to remember:

A creative and innovative design project that:

will give you the best opportunity to enjoy design and technology and help you to attain the greatest number of marks.

A quality product on its own won't necessarily achieve the highest marks.

A folio has the capacity to make or break the MDP. The folio is the only way in which the student can communicate with the examiner. Without the folio the student severely limits their potential mark regardless of how brilliant or innovative the product, system or environment is. Even a simple MDP can gain good marks if the folio fully addresses the criteria in the marking guidelines.

Stuck for project ideas?

If you're stuck for project ideas:

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