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Designing is a process that people use to plan and produce something of value for a potential customer.  It can be through either innovation or invention.  As shown in the above video, sometimes, the product may be for yourself.

• Innovation is changing or modifying an existing product to improve it.
• Invention is the creation of a product that has never been thought of before.

The result may be a product, process, or system that meets a specified human need or solves a particular problem. The solutions to these problems often improve and even save our lives.  In this module the focus will be on product design. The following links illustrate some interesting examples of good and bad designs.

Good Designs and Bad Designs

Individual creativity offers a larger number of results when a team works on a project as each member will have differing backgrounds, corporate or country cultures and experiences that help add to a variety of possible solutions. An example of this is told by Steve Jobs at the 2005 Stanford Commencement Address where he talked about "connecting the dots."

Therefore, the team must be made up of other talented people beyond designers, such as engineers, quality control, manufacturing and finance personnel. All of this work is documented in the product specification and is constantly being negotiated and altered based on negotiations and constraints.  During the process, the customer or client should always be involved to substantiate the need for the product.  In the end, all design is a compromise.

Engineers are interested in technological designs that require the combination of creativity and technical know-how to create practical solutions that can be manufactured at a competitive price.  Design and creativity go hand in hand; enhancing your creativity will improve your designs and improve your technical knowledge   Engineering design is very often influenced by art:  creative abstract thinking and visualizing. Once a solution is decided, it is up to manufacturing engineers to create the tools and equipment to make the product.  When creating a design for manufacturing, a detailed understanding of production and assembly processes becomes important in the process.  The quality control staff makes sure that the product performs as it is designed.