Understand the Challenge(4/5): Throughout the first part of The Product Design Process, Wong
demonstrates that the senior design group at MIT is trying to correctly grasp the issue being
posed to them before solving it. Also, on pages 2-4, the group is discussing the issue presented
to them through the project brief. Then on page 3, in the middle rows, the group mentions that
one of the issues they may encounter is time constraints and other deadlines within a semester.
This indicates that they are trying to issue-frame rather than immediately designing.
However, later in the comic, it is also shown that the team has identified areas where they have
misunderstood certain needs of users, thus having to change the design path (pages 10-12). It
appears that the team has a great understanding of the problem but that the problem definition
has room for improvement, which explains why the score is only a 4 out of 5.
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Build Knowledge(3/5): The team shows reasonable effort in developing knowledge through
research and investigation. On pages 5-7, Wong captures the process of the team scrutinizing
other designs and feeding on other previous engineering classes to aid in designing. The team
cites other designs on page 6, upper rows, of what has worked and what has not worked in
other designs.
Yet, the comic seems to convey that the construction of their knowledge is informal, assumed,
rather than approached in a professional fashion with adequate user research. On page 9, for
instance, they do not appear to test their assumed knowledgefully, but continue with design
considerations instead. While they construct some new technical-contextual knowledge, it does
not seem extensive; hence, it merits the middle-level evaluation.
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Generate Ideas(5/5): One of the strongest design strategies that the MIT team had
demonstrated was generating ideas. Wong had shown in pages 7–9 the group actively
brainstorming a number of possible solutions. On page 8, several rows across the panel, the
team members each draw ideas on concepts, propose mechanisms alternatives, and debate
openly the pros and cons of each.
Instead of converging into one single idea, the team has brainstormed a set of different
possibilities and evaluated them together. This fits well within the informed design principle of
divergence before convergence into a solution. The comic really communicates creativity,
openness, and collaboration in this stage, so it's a 5.
​
Represent Ideas(4/5): The ideas sketched by the team, using various types of graphics,
continuously supplemented their points. Wong illustrates on pages 8–10 whiteboard sketches
and notebook drawings to help the team communicate, with visual aids, the design concepts. In
page 9, lower rows, the visual model used shows points of shared reference during a
discussion, proving that a visual also supports collaboration.
Later in the book, on pages 13–16, physical prototypes are built and refined, as the team further
represents their ideas in tangible form. The purpose of these representations is to reveal flaws
and raise design changes. While representations are used effectively by the team, there is a
lack of detail and precision in some of the early sketches, which reduces the usefulness slightly.
Overall, the strategy is well-applied for a strong but not perfect rating.