2. Plan - (i) Develop design specifications, which clearly states the success criteria for the design of a solution.
By the end of year 5 students should be able to:
A specification is a set of constraints, requirements and considerations for a solution: what the solution must or must not have to be successful. A specification is not a description of the outcome. It should demonstrate that you understand the needs of the problem that you have identified. Every aspect of a specification must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and testable (SMART).
The specification should be directly connected to your design brief. Writing a specification can be a difficult job if the design brief is not well researched and written. If a solution or design fails to meet an aspect of the specification, it can be considered that it has not met the criteria for success.
You will need to refer back to your specification throughout the project, particularly when developing ideas and evaluating the solution.
- identify and explain the requirements of the solution based on the analysis of the data and identify which are essential and which are desired
A specification is a set of constraints, requirements and considerations for a solution: what the solution must or must not have to be successful. A specification is not a description of the outcome. It should demonstrate that you understand the needs of the problem that you have identified. Every aspect of a specification must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and testable (SMART).
The specification should be directly connected to your design brief. Writing a specification can be a difficult job if the design brief is not well researched and written. If a solution or design fails to meet an aspect of the specification, it can be considered that it has not met the criteria for success.
You will need to refer back to your specification throughout the project, particularly when developing ideas and evaluating the solution.
Example
The example below demonstrates poor and good examples of design specifications. Remember that these should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and testable.
Poor examples of a design specification
If you combine the specification set of constraints, requirements and considerations with the aspect your table might look something like this:
Poor examples of a design specification
- My storage device must look good/nice. The interface must look attractive.
- It must work well. It must function correctly.
- My storage device must be the right size.
- My animation should be fun.
- My video must include music.
- My video must not be too long.
- The storage device must contrast with the furnishings of the room; so bright colours such as red, yellow and orange would work really well. The interface must appeal to my target audience; whose favourite colours are hot pink and deep purple.
- The clock must display the time accurately. The clock must have a method to hang it on the wall. The storage device must store my jewellery collection (list the specific types of jewellery and quantity) 10 rings, 5 bracelets and 10 pendants. All information on the web page must be accessible using 3 clicks or less.
- My storage device must be able to hold 20 pencils that are 170mm long and 8mm in diameter. The images on the web page must be clear and visible when viewing from 50cm from the screen.
- My Flash animation should contain animated graphics that carry the meaning of the song included, sing-along with bouncing dots and appropriate typography (Sassoon Primary or similar.)
- My video must include up-beat, hip-hop style music.
- My video must be last at least 1 minute and no more than 2 minutes.
If you combine the specification set of constraints, requirements and considerations with the aspect your table might look something like this:
- Aesthetics (Consider appearance, style, colour, shape/form, texture, pattern, finish, layout)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Cost (Is there a maximum cost? Is this a material cost/time cost/selling cost?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Customer (Who it is for? What is the target user’s age, gender, socio-economic background?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Environmental considerations (Where will the solution be used? How will the design directly or indirectly affect the environment?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Function (What it must do? What is its purpose? Where will the product be stored? How easily can it be used/maintained?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Manufacturing (What resources are available? Are there limitations as to how this can be created? How much time is needed to create the design?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Materials (What materials are available? What properties do the materials need to have?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Safety (What safety factors need to be incorporated into the design?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
- Size (Are there any specific sizes that need to be considered? What “human factors” need to be considered? What anthropometric data needs to be considered?)
- Contraints
- Requirements
- Considerations
Changing specifications during a unit of work
You may have opportunities to develop your specification further as you continue through the unit of work. Changes in a specification should be justified through additional research that you may need to conduct as a result of finding that an aspect of a specification is not appropriate.