In this unit students research a real personal, local or global need or opportunity with explicit links to ethical considerations. They conduct research to generate product concepts and a final proof of concept for a product solution that addresses the need(s) or opportunities of the end user(s).
Product designers respond to current and future social, economic, environmental or other ethical considerations. This unit focuses on the analysis of available materials in relation to sustainable practices, tensions between manufacturing and production, modern industrial and commercial practices, and the lifecycles of products from sustainability or worldview perspectives.
Students plan to develop an ethical product through a problem-based design approach, starting with a need or opportunity and using a design process and testing to problem-solve. The design brief, product concepts and the final proof of concept are developed through the Double Diamond design approach, using design thinking. Students undertake the role of a designer to generate, analyse and critique product concepts, with the chosen product concept becoming the final proof of concept. Throughout a design process, the product concepts and the final proof of concept are evaluated using relevant factors that influence product design, and shaped using design thinking. Students learn about ethical research methods when investigating and defining their design need and/or opportunity and generating and designing their product concepts.
- Teacher: Rachel O'Connor
VCE Product Design and Technology Study Design 2018-2022
In this unit students are engaged in the design and development of a product that addresses a personal, local, or global problem (such as humanitarian issues), or that meets the needs and wants of a potential end-user/s. The product is developed through a design process and is in uenced by a range of factors including the purpose, function and context of the product; user-centred design; innovation and creativity; design elements and principles; sustainability concerns; economic limitations; legal responsibilities; material characteristics and properties; and technology.
Design and product development and manufacture occur in a range of settings. An industrial setting provides a marked contrast to that of a one-off situation in a small cottage industry or a school setting. Although a product design process may vary in complexity or order, it is central to all of these situations regardless of the scale or context. This unit examines different settings and takes students through the product design process as they design for an end-user/s. Students identify methods which could be used in a low-volume or mass/high-volume production setting to manufacture a similar product to their design.
In the initial stage of the product design process a design brief is prepared, outlining the context or situation around the design problem and describing the needs and requirements in the form of constraints or considerations.
In Area of Study 1, students examine how a design brief addresses particular product design factors and how evaluation criteria are developed from the constraints and considerations in the brief. They develop an understanding of techniques in using the design brief as a springboard to direct research and design activities.
In Area of Study 2, students examine how a range of factors, including new and emerging digital technologies, in uence the design and development of products within industrial manufacturing settings. They consider issues associated with obsolescence and sustainability models.
In Area of Study 3, students commence the application of the product design process for a product design for an end-user/s, including writing an individual design brief and criteria that will be used to evaluate the product in Unit 4.
- Teacher: Rachel O'Connor