Project Learning
Importance of Project Learning
Opportunity to
influence design
Cost of change
Opportunity to do
something innovative
End Goal
• A clear picture of what is considered done and
good
• The knowledge to produce a design that is
done and good
Project learning research results
•
Linking Design Process to Customer Satisfaction Through Virtual Design of
Experiment (Jain and Sobek)
– Problem definition (PD) at the higher abstraction levels appears positively related to client
satisfaction
– Client satisfaction improves with greater effort in idea generation (IG) at concept level, but not
at the system or detail design levels
– Greater time spent on design refinement (DR) activities across all design levels is negatively
associated with client satisfaction
– Greater time spent at the detail (D) design level appears comparatively non-value added to
client satisfaction
– Time spent on problem definition and engineering analysis activities at the system (S) design
level leads to better client satisfaction
•
Engineering Design Processes: A Comparison of Students and Expert Practitioners
(Atman)
– Experts spent more time overall in design than students and significantly more time on
problem scoping activities
– Experts also gathered more information that covered more categories
– Results support argument that information gathering and problem scoping are design
activities are major differences between advanced engineers and students and are important
competencies for students to develop
Notes
• Talk is cheap!!! – Documentation is a must.
– data (logbooks, webpage), schedules, decisions –
– you don’t know it until you can show your mentor where
you documented it.
– action items aren’t complete until documented.
– be efficient in documentation.
• Project learning can be simplified by systematically
identifying and performing activities that clarify issues
surrounding
– the people
– the products
– the technology
People
Identify stakeholders and experts
– Stakeholders are people that have an interest in
the creation of a new product
– Experts are people that have specific knowledge
about related products, processes, and
technologies
People
Leaning about/from people
individuals
groups
People
People
Interviews
• Information from stakeholders and experts
will net you substantial needs and constraints
– Interviews
– Focus groups
• Focus on ‘what’, not ‘how’
– Interviewees focus on solutions and anecdotes,
you must extract the needs
– Root cause analysis is critical
People
People
People
People
People
Conduct an observation
• People often do not realize opportunities,
realize their problems, and communicate all
needs.
• Apply anthropological techniques to
document activity lists, characterize user
types, and characterize value to the user.
People
People
People
Empathetic activities
• Use the product, perform the process,
experience the hardship!
• First-hand experience is a great way to grow
understanding
Group activity – identify
stakeholders and experts and
how you will interact or
understand them
Products
Product dissection
• Teardown competitive products and products
with comparable function that may be helpful
for conceptual design
• Build model of geometry and performance
• Benchmark performance of competitors
Products
Experimentation and modeling
• Gain clarity in relevant physical phenomenon
by creating math models and relating them to
experiments
• Useful to determine what can be validated
What existing products or product documentation should
be reviewed?
In what way will you access them and capture the results?
Technology
Research
• Identify technologies that are core to the
problem or potential directions for the
solution
• Web searches, patent searches, existing
documentation
What technology do you need to become conversant in?
What do deliverables look like?
Technology
Become familiar with relevant
code/standards
• Fully understand the governing standards, set
of codes, or rules that your design must
adhere to.
• Consult with experts to get a handle on
relevant codes.
• Summarize relevant material in a manner that
is easily digestible by teammates.