Project Selection and
Needs Identification
9/7/2010
Identifying Design Category

Creative


Variant




New and innovative design
Variation of existing design
Improve performance
Add more features
Routine



Well known
Combine creativity and new technologies
Complex
Design Type Differences

Each Design category can fall in one of the following types

Technical evaluation project


System test


Find failure modes and probability of failures
Applied research project


Find system characteristics
Analytical projects


Ensure meeting all the needs
Experimental design project


Use of new technology
Creation of new technology based on existing ones
Fundamental Research Project

Discover new scientific principles
Project Selection Criteria –
Questions to ask!







What are you trying to do? Articulate your goals
How is it does today? Limitations?
What difference does it make? Who cares?
What are the risks and payoffs?
How much will it cost?
How long does it take?
What are the benchmarks to check for success?
Project Selection Criteria –
Creating AHP Model

Determine the selection criteria




Your interests; technical complexity; creativity;
innovation; marketing potential; etc.
Determine the weighting for each criteria
Create the AHP
Review the scores and adjust as needed!
Project Selection Criteria –
Creating AHP Model
Identify the Needs

What is the problem?




Don’t fall for a wrong problem
Make sure problem and solution
are not given to you! – You have
no design there!
Understand the problem and
need
Do you have a design space –
all possible solutions
Problem of
Eliciting
needs
Marketing
Spec.
Engineering
Spec.
Process to obtain
Voice of the Customer

Gather raw data from users



What are the pros and cons of the existing process
Understand the process and problem
Interpret the raw data in terms of needs (Need)


What is the customer requirement (marketing specification)
Not quantified – they use terms such as: good, easy, user friendly, etc.


Quantify the needs (Tree)



Design an audio device that is portable, easy to use with high quality. (extension)
It should be water resistance, long lasting, small and drop resistance.
Establish an objective tree
Ranking the relative importance of each specification
Understand the background and existing solutions (Survey)

Use all available resources: Internet, Technical, Journals, Government
statistics, etc.
Example of
Objective Tree
Sources for Survey








EE Product Center, www.EEProductCenter.com. A website for locating electronic components and
their manufacturers. It provides links to product datasheets and application notes. It has a keyword
search engine and a tree structure search for finding components. For example, you can start with op
amps and delve into subcategories such as precision and high-speed.
Circuit www.CircuitCellar.com. This companion website for the magazine is a great reference for
designers. It emphasizes embedded systems and electronics projects with many tutorial articles and
project ideas.
Datasheet Catalog, www.DatasheetCatalog.com. A datasheet source for electronic components and
semiconductors.
Dr. Dobbs, www.ddj.com. The magazine and companion website are a resource for software developers
that includes tips and tutorials.
EE Times, wLuw.EETimes.com. Industry newspaper for the electrical engineering field with
information on current technology developments.
Electronic Magazine, wwro.EDNmag.com This is a free magazine for electrical design engineers that
provides information on the latest products. The website has a number of categorized technical
resources and a design ideas section.
OK Semiconductor, www.OnSemi.com. OK Semiconductor is a supplier of semiconductors for a wide
range of applications, with a particular emphasis on power management. The website has a searchable
database of over 15,000 components, and provides guidelines for component selection based on
different applications.
The Thomas Register, www.ThomasRegister.com. This is a source for finding companies and products
in Korth America. It allows searches for parts and equipment that may be used in a design project. It
provides profiles of companies that meet the search criteria and describes the products they make.
Summary
Design
Catagory
Identify
The Needs
Project
Type
Solution
Space
Selection
Criteria
Objective
Tree
Research
Survey
Needs &
Objectives
Assignment


Individual: Pick a project topic (anything) – Define
your different criteria in order for this project to be
an interesting project to you (meeting a need, low
cost, innovative, patentable, etc.) Create an objective
tree for the topic. You must present this in class.
As a team agree on two possible project ideas.
Create an objective tree for each project idea. Try to
agree on which project seems to be more viable.