Teaching product development by deterministic design

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop a deterministic design and teaching process for the creation of new products ranging from books, to music, to consumer products. The foundation of the process is the Peer-Review Evaluation Process (PREP). The process is especially useful for diverse teams of designers with members from various cultures, races, genders and personalities. It is especially useful for helping team members who are not comfortable with verbal group brainstorming or one-on-one type interactions to contribute to the development of designs. Projects were completed by teams largely comprised of underrepresented minority and female students using Deterministic Design with PREP. Design teams were monitored and students from six consecutive years of a design course were given questionnaires to determine the level of collaboration and designer satisfaction throughout the development process. Questionnaire responses indicate increasing levels of collaboration throughout development and above average satisfaction with the process. Students indicated that since learning the process, over 45% use PREP 75% of the time and over 75% use PREP at least 50% of the time when working with others.

(cont.) Three patents have been issued from products developed using this process, and one is pending. The process has been introduced to universities in South America and Europe and a teaching manual is being published. Two goals are to continue to introduce Deterministic Design with PREP to other schools, organizations, and disciplines, and to start an Urban Design Corps.