Communicating Your Product Designs

From an idea to the finalization, the product design process takes a few steps. Guaranteed to guide you through them towards the success, the most important factor is excellent communication. The steps in finalizing the product are: analyzing your business to suit the design, creating prototypes for you, letting you view them and have an effect on them to construct the product completely fitting for you, developing it and launching. Design is created after the client have expressed their vision. Wheter or not it comes true depends on how well your exchange of informations went. How to make sure it goes well? Let's dive into it!

The process of creating a customer is a process of communicating your vision and values to the right set of customers in the market. Strategic messaging facilitates this communication.

Making a Connection

• Students are introduced to detail drawings and the importance of clearly documenting and communicating their designs. They are introduced to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Y14.5 standard, which controls how engineers communicate and archive design information. They are introduced to standard paper sizes and drawing view conventions, which are major components of the Y14.5.
• 4 Simple Ways to Communicate Better With Your Customers. 'That product will be available next month. Design, technology, and more, we have the freelancers you need to tackle your most.
• Communicating Your Product Designs Shetara Edden. Marketing Manager at Maker's Row, whose mission is to make the manufacturing process simple to understand and easy to access. Whether you are an established designer or aspiring fashion entrepreneur, properly communicating your design ideas is crucial to the outcome of your product.
• Communication is not a one-sided process — both parties must be open and have a level of respect for the other party's expertise. The focus should be on working together to achieve a successful end product. Within commercial design projects, a few key communication points are critical.

In order to understand your needs, the designer must get the most out of you. How to help him with that? It makes a great difference if you will follow these rules in the meetings:

• Make Eye Contact

This will make both sides feel like they can trust each other and lead them to be more open about their concept, therefore help ensure they're on the same page when it comes to the project!

• Get Comfortable

Some people prefere to hold conversations in public and others are fond of more private spaces. Make sure to pick an appropriate time and place for discussing the design. Meeting in person can help you see what each of you have in mind in terms of the design.

• Remember to Have Open Body Language

Do not cross your arms, have a straight and relaxed posture, appear excited, ready to speak and listen. Body language works on our minds more than we think. It can help the information to flow better. In case you are talking about the product design over the phone – you can make your voice sound energetic and reassuring the designer that you are listening to them by simple sounds like ‘'mmm' or ‘'huh''. You can as well paraphrase what they are saying to make them sure you understood.

• Make Small Talk

Getting to know a little bit more about people you work with will help integrating you and have your conversations go smoother, with both sides more involved. This is really important, especially during long-term projects.

The Way the Designer Works

Another helpful thing to do is to learn about the personal product design process that your designer follows. Paul Ralph explained two basic patterns that designers follow in his article:

• „Reason-centric perspective'

That's when what's there to achieve is stated at the beginning and must be thoroughly followed to complete the project.

• „Action-centric perspective'

That approach mixes realizing what we want to achieve while already taking action.

A lot of the time, designers follow the second approach. What this means to you is that both you and the designer might find new goals as well as problems along the way. The good side is that it might make processing the project more thoughtful, observing it as it comes to life. When you understand how the production happens, you trust your designer more and become less afraid of a potential failure. Finding out how the designer stresses the matter, takes us to another point.

Ask Questions

As you might have learned in school, no question is a dumb question. Producing your concept as best as the designer can, requires them to know your fears, doubts and expecations. The more open about the abstract you are, the better they realize it. Maybe there is something you would like to understand about the product design process. Ask away. The designer will be happy to share their knowledge with you to make your cooperation better. You have the same impact on the project and should be equally involved. Make sure the designer keeps you updated on the project – that way you can avoid conflicts about the arising vision.

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Be Prepared for the Discussion

Realize how far is your idea planned and what challenges does it bring. Communicate them to your designer. Prepare a set of questions that will give answers to your concerns. Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer of your future product. What do you want him to see looking at it? What kind of feeling do you want it to arouse? What strong points will be bringing consumer's attention and decide for them to buy it or use it? Remember to listen to what the person has to say and politely debate your opinions. You might have to be ready to compromise. If you think you are right, always speak your arguments to make the statement strong. It will show how important the project is to you. Know the strong and weak points of your concept. Showing how important the project is to you, engages the designer in it and makes it more than just another job to do. Emotional commitment creates a bond between you and the person, drawing them in to make them do all they can to help you.

Emotions

As huge role as emotions play in conversations, it is important to keep them healthy and reasonable. There are two sides to the conversation. First, you – someone who is expecting the final product to present your vision perfectly, hopefuly as fast and problemfree as it can. Second – the designer, who is hoping to be proud of their final product and to get your approval on it. Both sides are stressed. Is the designer able to do that? How long will it take? Is the costumer willing to compromise? How to cooperate and negogiate to prepare it down to the last detail? It is crucial to maintain yourself and accept that the product design process will take time. But it's the time worth the wait to meet your expectations. How they will be met, relies on communication between the two of you.

Visual and Verbal Strategy

To get the point across, people typically communicate through images and words. Anthony Williams and Robert Cowdroy tested main elements of that in their study.

Verbal Strategies:

• Technical Language

Using technical terms helps the designer, that way the person knows exactly what you mean.

• Analogy

To explain your idea you can choose to affect person's imagination by comparing your idea to another famous one. It is a great way to navigate the designer in which direction you would like to go.

Visual Strategies:

• Gestures

Showing your idea by movement can apply to shapes, sizes, functions and ratio of one element to the other.

• Drawings and Existing Graphics

If you cannot reach consensus on what you want the product to be like, you can illustrate it by sketching it or showing the designer an already exsisting design. You can also create a so called „mood board', which is a presentation of colours, images and other inspirations that represent your vision.

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Inform the Designer What the Product is for

Best product design process is followed by having as much information as possibile. Share whatever you can about your business, who is it for and why are you doing it, how do you want to operate it. That way the designer will know what will and will not work for the product. Infrom the designer about the target audience, they will understand where you are coming from and it will make the approach way clear to them. Showing and justifying to the designer your journey of how the concept was created in your mind – with as much details as possible, raises your chances of the designer to realize it perfectly.

Be Straightforward

You think the design is ok, but you would like it a bit better? Say it. Do not hold back on communicating what you like and do not like about the design. The person designing your product needs to know what they can improve on. The more you say, the closer you are to the desired result. Same with describing your abstract, you might have seen the design that you absolutely do not want. Show it to designer, so they know what to avoid.

Keep in Touch with Your Designer

In today's world with all the technology, you don't have to meet eye-to-eye with your designer. Set up ways to communicate with them while the project is being processed. You can exchange emails, texts, calls, videoconferences on Skype for example. At INVO we like to use Slack as well as emails and traditional phone calls. This will make it easier for you to give feedback. Make sure you are informed about changes made in your project. Give as many opinions as you can. Carefully analize why certain options are being chosen. The more attention you will pay to the project, the better it will turn out.

Brainstorm with Your Designer

Even if you have your idea all planned out, it is smart to take advantage of designer's knowledge. They might point out weak points of your project, and bring new solutions to it. Remeber to listen to your designer and reflect on what they say. Experienced designers usually know what sort of design will bring you expected business results. Talking your idea through thoroughly with the designer will definitely benefit you. Always know why you are deciding on a certain thing the way you do.

Organize Your Speech

Remember, to be heard, you need to speak in a certain manner. One of the useful tips is to section out the things that you want to say. It is very effective to make pauses between sections, so that the person you are speaking to has time to process information in their head and be able to ask you questions, leading to an agreement on both sides. Do not rush the information. It may get misplaced. Take your time to explain your ideas. Giving yourself and the designer proper amount of time will improve your way of communicating. You both will be paying more attention, causing better thought processes.

Communicate Better

Now you know ways to help the designer make your vision come true. A key ingredient to make the product desing process go smoothly and get on that finish line – clear communication. Without it the product will not come out the way you want it. It is very important to realize that whatever you communicate, the designer will try to use to create your product. Keep in mind at all times, that the more you say, the better. With a lot of information having to be conveyed, you must pass it in a valid way, being sure the designer knows what it is that you want. Communication is an art. Be patient and try to keep your designer on the same page as you!

FREE K-12 standards-aligned STEM

curriculum for educators everywhere!

Find more at TeachEngineering.org.

Quick Look

Grade Level: 10 (9-12)

Time Required: 45 minutes

Lesson Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Science and Technology

Summary

Engineering Connection

A revolutionary idea has value only if it can be effectively communicated. For engineers to imagine, create and design the products, devices and systems that have lasting impact on society, they must know how to present and archive their designs in a manner that is understood by all engineers across cultural and geographical boundaries. Given proper detail drawings, manufacturers know exactly how parts are created without the need for additional verbal explanation from engineers. A detail drawing stands on its own, so to speak, and provides a record or archive of the engineer's precise intent. Well-crafted detail drawings preserve creative work from one generation to the next.

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, students should be able to:

• Identify seven views of a detail drawing.
• List the important components of a detail drawing.
• List the paper sizes used for a detail drawing.
• Explain the role of standards in the preservation of technology.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

• Expressing ideas to others verbally and through sketches and models is an important part of the design process. (Grades K - 2) More Details

  Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

• There are many ways to communicate information, such as graphic and electronic means. (Grades 9 - 12) More Details

  Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

Quick Look

Grade Level: 10 (9-12)

Time Required: 45 minutes

Lesson Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Science and Technology

Summary

Engineering Connection

A revolutionary idea has value only if it can be effectively communicated. For engineers to imagine, create and design the products, devices and systems that have lasting impact on society, they must know how to present and archive their designs in a manner that is understood by all engineers across cultural and geographical boundaries. Given proper detail drawings, manufacturers know exactly how parts are created without the need for additional verbal explanation from engineers. A detail drawing stands on its own, so to speak, and provides a record or archive of the engineer's precise intent. Well-crafted detail drawings preserve creative work from one generation to the next.

Learning Objectives

After this lesson, students should be able to:

• Identify seven views of a detail drawing.
• List the important components of a detail drawing.
• List the paper sizes used for a detail drawing.
• Explain the role of standards in the preservation of technology.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

• Expressing ideas to others verbally and through sketches and models is an important part of the design process. (Grades K - 2) More Details

  Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

• There are many ways to communicate information, such as graphic and electronic means. (Grades 9 - 12) More Details

  Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

Worksheets and Attachments

Introduction/Motivation

Engineers do not manufacture their own creative work, but typically communicate their ideas to highly trained machinists and manufacturers, who then construct the various components that make up the designs. Engineers also must present their designs in a way that is understood by engineers in different countries and cultures. Engineers also leave a legacy of creative thought through their designs. To preserve this technology from one generation to the next, it must be well-documented. How would you do this? How do engineers do this? A detail drawing is a tool used by engineers to communicate their designs to manufacturers and to preserve their work for future generations.

To facilitate the sharing of design information, engineers have created uniform standards, protocols and tools. One of these standards is called the ANSI Y14.5, which is a description for how to create a 'detail drawing.' A detail drawing is a two-dimensional representation of an engineer's design that contains all the information needed to precisely reproduce it. Detail drawings are especially useful when an engineer wants to manufacture their design. Given a proper detail drawing, a manufacturer knows exactly how to create a part without the need for additional verbal explanation from the engineer. The detail drawing stands on its own, so to speak, and provides a record or archive of the engineer's precise intent.

(Show students example detail drawings and describe information from the Lesson Background section. Use the Detail Drawing Visual Aids, which provides Figures 1-3, in a format suitable for overhead projection or handouts. Then administer the attached quiz and conduct the associated activity.)

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers

A 'detail drawing' is a drawing of a single component, assembly of multiple parts, or an entire system of assemblies. A detail drawing provides complete and precise descriptions of a part's dimensions, shape and how it is manufactured. A detail drawing should be concise, in that it conveys only the information needed to create the part. Information such as the exact size, type of material, finish, tolerance and any special shop instructions that are necessary to create the part are included its detail drawing.

Detail drawings are created on standard paper sizes. The 'North American Standard Paper Size' is specified by the ANSI Y14.5 standard and is used in the US. Figure 1 shows the different North American Standard paper sizes. The smallest size is designated by the letter 'A' and is the size of a typical sheet of notebook paper (8 ½ x 11 inch). The largest size is 'E,' which is equivalent to 16 sheets of notebook paper.

An engineer 'scales' very large or small objects in their drawings. For example, the components that make up a 1-inch microrobot are too small to draw to scale due to feature sizes that are not easily seen unmagnified. An appropriate scale, say 1/10 inch = 1 inch, is chosen to convey the necessary details, and then an appropriate paper size is chosen. The scale of the drawing is noted in the title block.

The following information should be present on a detail drawing:

• engineer's name
• part name
• material type
• drawing scale
• date and/or revision
• necessary views (front, left side, right side, top, bottom, and/or back)
• isometric view
• all necessary dimensions (width, depth, height, size, etc.)
• all dimension tolerances

Figure 2 is an example of a detail drawing that contains all the necessary information to create this component. Note the following from this drawing:

• the engineer's name (Ben Terry)
• part name (Tube, Base .3125 OD X .242 ID)
• part name (Tube, Base .3125 OD X .242 ID)
• scale (5:1)
• revision (B-01)
• the paper size: (A)
• the isometric view (upper right corner)
• the front view (upper left corner)
• bottom view (lower left corner)
• right view—in this case a section view (SECTION A-A)
• dimensions and allowable tolerances

In a detail drawing, views are included to clearly describe a three-dimensional object through the medium of two-dimensional paper. The front view is the first view that is chosen and is the only view that is arbitrary, that is, the engineer defines (decides) which view will be the front view. All other views are based off of the chosen front view. Views are positioned on the paper according to the convention illustrated by Figure 3.

Note that the views are obtained by rotating the front view. For example, the front view is rotated 90° to the left to obtain the left view, the front view is rotated 90° to the right to obtain the right view, the right view is rotated 90° to the right to obtain the back view, and so on. Note that the isometric view is obtained by considering the component within a cubical room looking towards the opposite, lower corner from an upper corner. Views need not be labeled as they are in Figure 3; their locations in the detail drawing relative to the front view defines each view. Sketching the views by hands takes practice. The associated Drawing Designs in Detail activity provides an opportunity for students to practice drawing the standard views.

The convention used in Figure 3 is called 'third angle projection,' which is used by North American manufacturers. Another convention, called 'first angle projection,' is used in Europe and Asia.

Associated Activities

• Drawing Designs in Detail - Students practice creating rudimentary detail drawings. They learn how engineers communicate the technical information about their designs using the basic components of detail drawings. They also practice creating their own drawings of a 3D block.

Vocabulary/Definitions

ANSI: Acronym for American National Standards Institute.

drawing view: A two-dimensional line drawing of an object as seen from a particular angle. The seven standard views are: front, back, top, bottom, left side, right side, and isometric.

scale: The scale of a drawing is defined as the ratio of a distance on the drawing to the corresponding distance on the actual object.

third angle projection: The convention for drawing views used in North America. A simple way to visualize third angle projection is to place the object in the bottom of an imaginary bowl. Sliding the object up the right edge of the bowl reveals the right side view, sliding up the left edge of the bowl reveals the left side view, and so on.

tolerance: The acceptable deviation of the actual value from a specified value.

Communicating Your Product Designs Pdf

Assessment

Lesson Summary Assessment

Quiz: After the lesson, administer the attached Detail Drawings Quiz to students, which asks them to identify drawing view perspectives and explain why the rules and procedures for creating detail drawings are so comprehensive and thorough. Review their answers to gauge their comprehension of the subject matter.

Copyright

Contributors

Communicating Your Product Designs Using

Supporting Program

Acknowledgements

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: January 19, 2021

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