Design strategies - EdexcelIterative design process

The iterative design process is revisited and reflected upon at regular points in order to improve and refine design ideas to ensure they best meet the needs of the final user.

Designing a product for a client can be done in several ways. Manufacturers cannot risk investing large amounts of money into the production of a product that has not had adequate design, modelling, testing, prototyping and evaluation.

Iterative design is a circular design process that models, evaluates and improves designs based on the results of testing.

• analysis - starting with a context or design brief, a designer may explore the design issue and generate ideas to solve the design problem
• design ideas - create a series of freehand sketches of design ideas that may help to solve the problem
• modelling - modelling ideas in card, paper, clay or other materials can create a cheap and quick way to do initial trials with a product
• testing - once a model has been made it can be tested in a variety of ways:
  • destructive testing - tests the product to its extreme to see what conditions it can tolerate before being destroyed to help decide on the best materials and construction methods to use
  • non-destructive testing - tests the model to identify areas of weakness without destroying it to test the function of the product and highlight any unexpected design flaws
  • market testing - tests the product with its target market to give feedback on performance and design
• evaluating - the data gathered from the testing of a model should be evaluated to highlight any modifications that need to be made at the next stage
• modification - from the evaluation, a designer can revisit the models and design ideas to make improvements