Engineers use a design process to create new inventions and technology. This design process can be applied to almost any type of design. Here are the steps of the design processes applied to a style of design that is drastically different than engineering.
- Define the Problem: What are you are trying to solve? Let’s imagine you want to decorate a room.
- Do Background Research: What is the history of decoration? What types of decoration styles already exist? This is where you dive into the world-wide webs and research your problem.
- Specify Requirements: Will you be doing the work yourself or hiring a professional interior decorator? What is your budget? What are your time constraints? Think about any other limitations that might need to be addressed.
- Brainstorm Solutions: What types of decorations do you prefer? What type of decorations do you think your guests will enjoy?
- Choose the Best Solution: This is a simple step for decorating a room. Pick one of the solutions you brainstormed. There are no wrong answers for this example.
- Do Development Work: This is going to include buying paint, furniture, or any other materials you will need to decorate.
- Build a Prototype: Work on a small area of the room first. If you are painting, completely paint one section of the room so you can assess if the design process is going as planned.
- Test and Redesign: If it didn’t turn out the way you like, now you can redecorate!
