Product Design and Technology
currently not offered at TC
Unit 1-4
VCE Product Design and Technology is an opportunity to respond to the changing needs of our community and to improve their quality of life by designing creative, innovative and sustainable products. Students will design solutions for a broad range of people, especially those who are sometimes excluded from using mainstream products because of their age, gender, ability, or economic status.
Design thinking is applied throughout the product design process to provide a structure for creative problem-solving. The design process involves identification of a real need, problem or opportunity that is then articulated in a design brief. The need, problem or opportunity is investigated and informed by research to aid the development of solutions that take the form of physical, three-dimensional products.
The knowledge and use of resources is integral to product design. These resources include a range of materials and the tools, equipment and machines needed to safely transform these materials into products. Increasingly, the importance of sustainability is affecting product design and development and so is at the forefront throughout the product life cycle.
VCE Product Design and Technology offers students a range of career pathways in design in fields such as industrial, transport, service, interior and exhibition, engineering, fashion, furniture, jewellery, textile, and ceramics, at both professional and vocational levels.
Moreover, VCE Product Design and Technology informs sustainable behaviours and develops technical skills enabling students to present multiple solutions to everyday life situations. It contributes to developing creative problem solvers and project managers well-equipped to deal with the multidisciplinary nature of modern workplaces.
Aims
This study enables students to:
Use design thinking and develop their understanding of product development and how this occurs in a variety of contexts and environments
Apply design practice by generating and communicating multiple creative ideas, concepts and product design options using a range of techniques to develop viable solutions to problems
Explore and determine characteristics and properties of materials that make them suitable for use
Examine methods of sourcing, processing, producing and assembling materials and social, economic, ethical, legal and environmental implications
Use risk assessment to apply appropriate, efficient and safe methods of working with materials, tools, equipment and machines
Apply project-management techniques of time and sequence, and choose appropriate processes
Analyse and evaluate the appropriateness of production activities and product design
Understand sustainability and the responsibility the designer has to address social, environmental and economic considerations when designing and creating for the needs of the broader community
Structure
The study is made up of four units.
Unit 2: Collaborative design
Unit 3: Applying the product design process
Unit 4: Product development and evaluation
Entry
There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence.
Design Brief
A design brief is developed to clarify the project task and to define the personal, local or global design problem to be solved. A design brief will typically identify intended end-user/s, constraints and considerations with reference to product design factors.
Product design process
The product design process is the application of design thinking, which involves the use of strategies for understanding design needs and opportunities, visualising and generating creative and innovative ideas, planning, and analysing and evaluating the ideas that best meet the criteria. The use of creative and critical thinking techniques enables students to develop, articulate, analyse and reflect on the product design process. Consideration of economic, environmental and social impacts that result from designed solutions are core to design thinking and the product design process.
The product design process has four stages:
- Investigating and defining
- Design and development (conceptualisation)
- Planning and production
- Evaluation
Each stage consists of a series of steps in the design and development of a product. The product design process is non-linear - that is, previous stages can be revisited to facilitate an interface between thinking and making to enable further visualisation of ideas and formulation and enactment of procedures. The process should be adapted and customised to suit each project. Depending on the context, some steps may require more emphasis or feedback.
Evaluation criteria
Throughout Units 1 to 4, students develop evaluation criteria from the design brief. These criteria are used to inform and justify the selected design option and evaluate the success of the finished product in relation to solving the design problem for the end-user/s. Each criterion has four parts:
- A question
- Justification and relevance to the design brief
- The process used to evaluate the success of the product
- How the finished product could be tested or checked
Material categories
In VCE Product Design and Technology, students design and make three-dimensional products using a range of construction materials.
In Units 1 and 2, students incorporate one or more materials from Category 1 or 2 in their product design.
In Units 3 and 4, students use materials predominantly from Category 1 but may incorporate Category 2 materials in their product design. Category 3 materials are used to fasten, decorate, protect and finish Category 1 and 2 materials.
Students may base their products on one of the following design specialisation areas but are not restricted to these areas. The product should not include significant mechanical and/or electrical and control systems components. It should not be a food, an agricultural product, a horticultural (plant or animal) product or an information-technology product. The purpose and/or function of the product should not be solely to visually communicate, be purely decorative or aesthetic (for example, a wall hanging) or an artwork (for example, a sculpture).
If appropriate, the finished product in all units may be a high-quality prototype that is constructed to exactly resemble the preferred option (allowing for design modifications where required). The prototype should also attempt to meet all of the evaluation criteria developed from the design brief. In this study, references to products include prototypes. Appropriate substitute materials and processes may be used to create structure, form or finish if the originally specified materials and processes are not available (for example, 3D printing replacing injection moulding, or manual cutting of fabric replacing laser cutting). All products must be full-scale. Non-functioning electrical systems or other technologies can be simulated to indicate placement and function.
Assessment
All assessments in Units 1 and 2 are school-based. Procedures for assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.
Unit 3 contains school-based assessment and Unit 4 has a combination of school-based assessment and a final exam. The exam contributes 30 per cent of the study score.