Project Learning

Importance of Project Learning

Opportunity to influence design

Opportunity to do something innovative

Cost of change

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

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

observation

interviewexperience

(empathetic activity)

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

People

Group activity – identify stakeholders and experts and

how you will interact or understand them

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

Products

What existing products or product documentation should be reviewed?

In what way will you access them and capture the results?

Research

• Identify technologies that are core to the problem or potential directions for the solution

• Web searches, patent searches, existing documentation

Tech-nology

What technology do you need to become conversant in? What do deliverables look like?

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.

Tech-nology