Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1: Plan a design solution and prepare an engineering design specification in response to a stakeholders

design brief and requirements.

Assignment Brief and Guidance

Scenario:

Your company has set up a new design department and you have been appointed as

engineering designer to work on a design project for the release of a new product.

Your manager requires that as designer you will produce a professional report for

him/her for approval, with a view to achieving project funding from the board of directors.

Activity:

To develop your report, you will firstly assume the role of company stakeholder and

formulate a design brief for the product or design solution.

The design brief will be the main starting point for the design process and will describe

in enough detail the essential elements of the product/design and the main functions of

the product and/or the problem that such a design is intended to address.

You may consider a completely new design or a rework of an existing one.

You will then take on the role of engineering designer and develop the design brief into

a design specification whilst creating an overall project plan covering all activities and

incorporating all information into a comprehensive report.

Task:

Your report will include:

a) An explanation of the key requirements within your design brief and how these have

influenced the preparation of your design specification.

b) A detailed design specification to be used in the design of your product/solution. Your

design specification should include a comparison to a relevant industry standard

specification, e.g. BSI, ISO or ANSI.

c) Give examples of any similarities or differences between the two and describe what this

industry standard considers; that your specification has overlooked.

d) If there is no relevant industry standard specification against which you can compare,

please refer to the following link for an overview of the contents of a typical design

specification. Not all items listed will be relevant.

e) Select two different project planning techniques that may be used within your project and

discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

Explain which of these two techniques you have chosen for your project and justify your

reasons for doing so.

d) A Gantt chart for your design project, including an analysis of the critical path.

Explain the importance of the critical path when managing a project of this kind.