Most designed product?

Which product do you think is the subject of "redesign", or "concept" or "i know how to do that better".
Its childrens buggies. Strange is it may seem, this is the one that most "would-be" design graduates decide to tinker with. The one they feel has the most scope for change.

Why is it that the humble "pushchair" or "stroller" is the target for the next generation of creative engineers.
Is it that it is a product we all identify with, as we were all children once?
Is it that by improving its use, storage, and look psychologically means that we are "giving back" and helping those that helped us be who we are i.e. parents.
Is it the combination of mechanisms, upholstery, materials that tap into the engineers psyche.
Is it that the potential market is guaranteed, and constantly increasing, i.e. children.
Is it the "transformer" figure for adults, ideally morphing from an "all terrain" vehicle into something the size of a sugar cube.

Are they, that we see them everyday, even when we're older, and our mind starts "inventing". When we drift into that "daydream moment".....

The women in the bus queue struggling desperately to fold down the contraption, laden with 3 bags of shopping and small children, before the bus pulls away, to then climb aboard and have to find the equivalent of another chair space to store it discreetly.
The dad in the supermarket car park, who we have spotted walking back to his car, and whose space we want, rapidly loading his shopping. To then spend and age collapsing the modern equivalent of the beach deckchair.

The current headlines regarding the maclaren buggy guillotining small childrens fingers, shows however, that for all of the looks, feel, comfort, colour, size, weight, and name of a product, it is function that cannot be overlooked or taken for granted.
Complacency is a competitors dream.

3D CAD preference

As someone who has used all of the leading CAD software to some degree, it is quite interesting about to listen to Product Designers about how defensive they get about "their" system. "my one does this..... yours doesnt....     watch this shape...... etc.etc"

(I will be letting you know my favourite, as a neutral review doesnt really help much.)

I am currently using Pro Engineer, and being honest, it is not the most up to date version. However, looking on the internet it doesnt seem much different than it did 5-6 years ago. Normally an eon for CAD updates. Some features are frustratingly not apparent. Boolean operations are not permitted and using FEA doesnt allow for trim surfaces. So great for modelling metal washers then? It has meant that a more stepped process is needed and overall a clumsier creation. The graphic interface is not attractive, and it is like using Windows3.1 rather than XP. It does the same job, and experts can achieve clever workarounds, but for the newbie, not a very user friendly package.

Unigraphics NX is light years in terms of allowing boolean, and for designers with good housekeeping and modelling discipline, makes for a nicer introduction tool.

My favourite is Solidworks.
Why?

Because every time I have been plunged into the deep end with a new CAD system, without the luxury of a 1 week off-site training course, it was Solidworks that was the most intuitive. It was the least intimidating, by what you first see. It could undertake all of the design requirement, from 3D modelling with surfaces, to advanced surfaces, to 2D modelling, and beyond. Translating the 3D model to a 2D representation was an extremely painless exercise. Nothing is more frustrating than having to spend more time converting your inspirational design to the 2D view on CAD, than it would be to draw it by hand.

The good thing for all CAD users, is that there is a convergence of formats, and a major focus on user-friendliness, so that "specialising" in one system is not so much a niche qualification anymore, or a hinderance if jumping systems is necessary.

Product Design

The "New Maclaren Finger Slicer" is a headline I think that is totally unfair.


I am a Product Designer by trade so have a particular interest in how designs are sometimes taken for granted. I havent worked directly for Maclaren, but my portfolio of consumer products involves dealing with dirt removal & pond life (although, enough about the staff.). I have designed vacuum cleaners, pond pumps, filters for some of the market leading companies like Dyson, Electrolux & Hozelock so in terms of "trying to make things right", I can speak with experience.


I know first hand the processes involved in innovation, R&D, Product Development and Launch, and know  that you try, try & try again to anticipate what could go wrong with something. How someone can use it wrongly (by accident or on purpose), or how they "think" it should work, or "thats how it always worked". For any designer  worth his salt, the term DFMEA, does not mean a bad spelling of FAMED, but a well established exercise in identifying, and monitoring potential faults.
The process is a disciplined approach to listing, scoring and actioning every possible failure mode that could be applied to a design. Obviously, the quality of output in terms of problems, is only as high as the quality of suggestions. Various methods exist, but the purpose is the same.


It is with this in mind, that if it could be shown that the relevant alleged fault of the Maclaren Buggy injuring tiny fingers was predicted but discarded as irrelevant then, maybe,  that could add weight to the arguements of the parents who are trying to sue the company. They could possibly prove that it was an accident that could have been avoided.


Generally, companies who strive to develop new product have a disciplined approach to documenting information. This is as a learning tool for the next "new" gadget, or product.


In their defence though, nothing irritates a designer more than the "well its obvious!" comment. Sometimes designs are taken for granted, and people do not realise the journey involved in the end result. "Its gonna work, and feel right in the process" are a "given" in some people eyes, so it doesnt dazzle them when it does.


There is no excuse, though, for any company who ignores feedback. It is this very information, that helps shape and style the next one.


Maclaren may have dismissed customers comments, they may not have, and with the media interest gathering, their response I believe, is going to have a direct correlation on sales and reputation.