A2 Design Technology: Product Design - Revision Help Thread

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Hi all,
I have done quite a bit of work on the subject and my teacher seems to know what he is talking about. He gave us all the case studies we will need and what they refer to. They are as follows:

Ipod - Jonathon ives, Demand pull, LCA (Life Cycle Analysis), Bad recycling, Market trends, Technology.

Dyson - Recyclone, PATENT LAW - DYSON VS HOOVER, Technology push

O.L.P.C (One Laptop Per Child) - Needs driven sollution, Yves bahar, Morality, Non profit, VERY sustainable, low cost batch production,

Smart Car - JIT, Customised automation - ie KANBANS, QC\QA, Green factory, Technology, Componantry.

Mini - LGR's, QC\QA, JIT - KISS, AGV's, Customised Automation - KANBANS, Style changes, Safety at work.

Patagonia - Green design, Technology (in the fibres), Green awards, Product Takeback.

Herman Miller (Aeron chair) - Policy 53, Green design, Cradle to Cradle, Product disassembly, Certification, Design icon, 6R's.

Bauhaus - birth of design, Frankfurt kitchen, Marcel Breuer, 1910 ergonomics, Functionality, Corbusier, Agatha Christie, Radio, George Carwadine, Streamline design.

Bicycles - Mature design, Standardisation, Componantry, 1880's Rover bike, Technology push, Sustainability (repair).

Flat Pack Furniture - Technology, Green (transport), Social change, Nature influenced design, ECONOMY OF SCALE, Quality increasing over years, Ergonomics.

I got told to revise these case studies because as you can see, between them they cover EVERYTHING you will need to know about design. I suggest that you read through and make yourself familiar with the above sections. This way you will be prepared for anything that comes up. Of course I can't predict the questions, but I think this is a good base of knowledge.

Hope it helps.

Reply 81

legend_90

dmeredith06

ok wow now i feel completely underprepared.. are any of your notes typed and could you possibly post them up or send them to me?
I would be eternally grateful!!

Reply 82

gummers

I'm not feeling the best for this exam at the moment. Done zero revision and been taught feck all!!

But this is what I thought of doing for the questions.

Q1 - James Dyson, guy who invented the hoovers. He has invented a number a different hoovers which was the starting point of new styles i.e. the bagless one

he's recently invented a bladeless fan - very contempoary. also uses some design techinques which are used in the hoover so could talk about crossing over techinques for different products

he also was part of making a water feature which made it look that water was flowing up hill which was pretty cool

Q2 - could talk about pretty much any think

Q3 - iPods - how they have changed <-- i think this is a really easy one as they are so popular and have varied so much in design

iPhone -- could cross over into the ipod touch i.e same style, firmware etc - also this would come under development of phones. ariel, flip, slide up, touch etc

then section two - I epically fail!

Help please :biggrin:

Reply 83

dmeredith06

I don;t have any notes on my computer im afraid, but all of the information is on the internet. If you feel bogged down with it all, just concentrate on the the case studies in this order... Ipod, Dyson, Mini, Flat pack furniture, Bicycles, Herman miller, Bauhaus, Smart car, OLPC, Patagonia.

If you do this and run out of time, the first 3 or 4 actually cover most of the specification, So make sure these are the ones you know the best!
Hope it helps.

Reply 84

dmeredith06

@GUMMERS

q. 1 and 2 seem good ideas, q.3, ipod is good, but i got told NOT to do iphone, as Ipod and Iphone are basically the same product, meaning you are only skimming the marks available for this section. I would instead use maybe Carbon fibre sports equipment..

Q.4. talk about JIT (KISS for mini) cUSTOMISED aUTOMATION, Total quality control, and Quick Response Manufacture - ie, Kanbans, EPOS etc.

Q.5. Mini - LGR, Ultrasonic metal testing, Checked by eye.

Cages for the robots, RoHS, and oxygen masks in the painting area.

Hope this is suitable. Again, if you are unsure on any of these area's, google them!

Reply 85

sheligalo

What would you guys suggest the best product to carry out a life cycle assessment on? There is this really cool environmentally friendly kettle i was planning on doing and that is also in the book.. soo? (Also, trying to upload that video)

Reply 86

dmeredith06

Ipod is a good example of how NOT to make product, ie, their pollution is massive etc.. otherwise, Herman miller Aeron chair.

Reply 87

random123456789

Seriously, WTF are we meant to do for this exam??? :s

Reply 88

random123456789

Also does any1 know if we're supposed to know the first 3 chapters of the nelson thornes book because I really cba to read it again since i did that paper last year!!

Reply 89

bobble26

random123456789

Also does any1 know if we're supposed to know the first 3 chapters of the nelson thornes book because I really cba to read it again since i did that paper last year!!

There won't be any specific questions on any of the stuff we did at AS but I think we're expected to use it as wider knowledge if it's appropriate for example talking about the specific materials a product is made of and their properties...

Does anyone know where you can get any example answers to any of the questions/ does anyone have any? I'm so baffled by how to structure my answers!

Reply 90

i-am--sam

dmeredith06

Ipod is a good example of how NOT to make product, ie, their pollution is massive etc.. otherwise, Herman miller Aeron chair.

Hi. How are you planning on relating the Mini to QA/QC? Also, what are LGRs?

Reply 91

legend_90

on the specimen paper for question 3 (developments in new technology) it specifies "during your lifetime", on the markscheme this is then extended to the last 25 years.
But then it starts talking about how the use of thermoplastic moulding has influenced aesthetics... and these moulding processes have been used for far longer than 25years
am i missing something here? because im finding this quite contradictory...

Reply 92

jo144

does any one have any example answers for the spec as the mark scheme isnt very detailed
also i did the life cycle question for homework and basically used the table in the book about the kettle but my teacher gave me like 7/28 which i thought was rediculous as i have covered all the aspects and how to make them cause less impact on the environment. i hope he was marking harshly

Reply 93

random123456789

anature

Oh right, thanks for clearing that up..and yeah i dont know how to structure my answers either :confused:

Reply 94

i-am--sam

jo144

That LCA on the can I posted was from the AQA kerboodle site my school is on so that should be enough maybe?
It should apparently be worth 24 marks. All of the questions on the spec are 28 so a little more detail than than.

Reply 95

sheligalo

i-am--sam

Thanks for that LCA, looks really good!

Reply 96

jo144

does anyone have a kerboodle user name, password i could use as my school had it for like a day so i didnt get chance to look at it
or is there anything useful on there which you could copy and paste like stuff which is linked the the questions from the spec