In the engineering field,
developing a good design is a key component of any project. It is important to
be creative when creating a good design. To be creative in this sense means to
be able to come up with an idea that is all your own, and that while you can
take inspiration from other products in the marketplace, you need to make sure
you are not straight copying those ideas. This can lead to lawsuits over
copyright protected materials and tons of paperwork, and nobody wants that when
it can be easily avoided. As a good general rule of thumb, it is best for
designs to be simple rather than complex. The less metaphorical and/or literal
moving parts you have in a design, the less likely it is that something will go
wrong and the easier it will be to troubleshoot anything that does. This also
makes it easier for others to look at your design and decide rather or not it
is any good because they won't have to spend much time dissecting all the
parts.
When creating a design, there
will be many different versions that you go through before you get the perfect
one. Even though it may seem great at the time, first ideas are usually not the
best. They are good in theory but you have usually not accounted for the little
things that can screw up your design when it is actually made. This is where
prototyping comes in handy. Once you have perfected all the little problems
with your design, you can create a prototype, which is a first actual creation
of whatever it is you are designing. This way you can test it in the real world
and see what other problems could arise and address those before putting it in
the hands of the public. Throughout all of the design phases, it is important
to document as much of what you are doing as possible. This way, you can go
back to an earlier design if need be and, more importantly, you can possibly
put a patent on your design before someone else does by proving that you have
been working on it since a certain date.
Source: ENG 100 Week 07 Lecture Notes
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