Edexcel A-Level Product Design The design process overview quiz quiz

A detailed list of precise, measurable criteria that designs must meet

A short, broad statement of the problem, context and client or user

A production schedule setting out exactly when each task must be done

A test report recording how the finished product performed in trials

The product must be cheap enough for most people to afford

The product must be nice to use and pleasant to look at

The product must retail under 25 pounds

The product must be strong enough to survive everyday use

To make the specification look longer and more impressive to the client

To avoid having to test the finished product against the criteria later on

Because the exam board requires every single specification to have exactly ten listed criteria

So each criterion is based on evidence and gives a valid basis for designing and evaluating

A cycle of generate, model, test, refine and repeat

A single straight-line process that runs once with no revision at all

Manufacturing the final product before doing any modelling or testing

Copying an existing product exactly without changing anything about it

It increases the cost of making changes later on once production has begun

It reveals problems while changes are still cheap, before committing to expensive tooling

It removes the need for a detailed specification to design and evaluate against

It guarantees that the finished product will sell well once it finally reaches the market

Holds the workpiece firmly in position while it is worked on, as a fixture does

Acts as a pattern that marks out a shape to cut around, in the way a template does

Guides the tool, for example positioning a drill identically on every part

Forms the mould into which molten material is poured to cast a finished part

The shortest possible route through all of the tasks in the project

Any task that can be delayed freely without affecting the overall plan

The cheapest sequence of tasks through the project, ignoring how long it takes

The longest chain of dependent tasks, setting the minimum project time

Objective is measured fact; subjective is opinion or preference

Objective is personal opinion, while subjective is hard measured fact and test data

They are identical, so the two words can be used interchangeably when evaluating

Objective evaluation applies only to aesthetics such as colour, shape and styling

Checking a product carefully without damaging it so it can still be sold

Testing a sample to failure to find its limits, using it up

Only measuring the dimensions of the product against the specification

Asking a sample of users their opinion of how the product looks and feels

The product is the cheapest one of its kind available to buy anywhere

The product has been handmade rather than produced on a factory line

The product has been independently tested to meet a British Standard

The product cannot legally be sold in any market outside the UK at all

The Kitemark

The recycling triangle

The fair trade mark

The UKCA mark