Industrial Design and Engineering Design Processes
A design is a blueprint or technical specification for the constructive construction of an engineered object or machine or even for the proper execution of an activity or procedure, or the resultant of that blueprint or technical specification in the shape of a finished object, commodity or process. The word ‘design’ itself can mean a design made by someone, an abstract or general idea, or even a pattern, drawing or blueprint. The verb ‘design’ in engineering applies to the procedures of designing, from conceiving (to create) to building (to erect). Designing in computers generally includes the discrete design procedures involved in generating or designing the program object. ‘Program’ in this context refers to the ordered sequence of instructions that cause the computer to produce a particular end product, ‘manufactured’ when the end product is functionally satisfactory.
In industrial design the discipline concerned is product design, which is concerned with the selection of materials, layout, construction and mechanism used in production. These processes are usually associated with production management, the planning and controlling of the production process. Within this discipline are three broad areas: industrial design science, industrial design technology and product design. Within the industrial design science there are three broad areas: Process thinking, Planning and Analysis and Production Processes and Design Technology.
Within the industrial design science the science of product design addresses physical, optical and acoustic quality, user experience and the whole gamut of human interactions. This area of engineering design science seeks to satisfy the production needs of customers in terms of quality, safety, usability, reproducibility and sustainability. The product design approach of product engineering design synthesizes the results of research and experimentation. It takes into account the whole of the product lifecycle, from design conception to final installation. The product design process also requires application of knowledge across functional domains and encompasses both design and engineering disciplines.