Engineering design process
An iterative method for defining a problem, developing and testing solutions, and refining a design to meet specified requirements.
Requirements engineering: The practice of eliciting, specifying, and managing the needs and constraints a system must satisfy. It makes the design target explicit before solution choices are made.
Design brief: A concise statement of a design project’s purpose, scope, users, constraints, and intended outcomes. It frames the challenge before detailed requirements and concepts are developed.
Systems engineering: An interdisciplinary approach to defining, integrating, and managing complex systems throughout their life cycles. It applies iterative design across interacting components and stakeholder needs.
John Dewey: An American philosopher and educator whose work advanced learning through inquiry and experience. His educational ideas helped shape problem-centered approaches to design learning.
Design thinking: A human-centered approach to innovation that uses observation, prototyping, and iteration. It shares iterative methods but emphasizes human needs and reframing problems.
Functional decomposition: The division of a system’s overall function into smaller functions and relationships. Breaking down the required function helps organize a complex design.
Software development process: A structured set of activities for specifying, creating, testing, deploying, and maintaining software. Software teams apply design iteration through requirements, implementation, and testing.
W. Edwards Deming: An American statistician and management thinker known for advancing quality improvement and statistical process control. Continuous improvement principles echo the process’s repeated testing and refinement.
Concept generation: The creation of possible solution principles for a defined design problem. It expands the solution space before detailed design begins.
Morphological analysis: A structured method for generating alternatives by combining options for a problem’s attributes or subfunctions. It supports systematic concept generation across multiple design choices.