Design Like a Pro: Research and Innovate

🔍 Imagine you are given one job: design a water bottle that never spills, keeps drinks cold for 12 hours, and can be opened with one hand. Where do you even start? Professional designers do not just pick up a pencil and draw — they investigate first. They study products that already exist, talk to the people who will use them, spot what works and what does not, and only then begin sketching ideas. This process is called the design cycle, and today you are going to work through the early stages just like a real product designer.

📦 Investigating existing products means looking carefully at something already on the market and asking precise questions. You examine the materials, dimensions, how it is assembled, who it is aimed at, and whether it actually solves the user's problem well. Designers use a framework called ACCESSFM to organise their findings. Each letter stands for a different aspect: Aesthetics (how it looks), Cost, Customer, Environment, Safety, Size, Function, and Materials. Running through ACCESSFM stops you missing important details when you evaluate a product — that means judge how well it meets its purpose.

🎨 Now meet a designer who changed the way everyday objects look and work. Jony Ive was the Chief Design Officer at Apple for over 20 years. He believed that good design should be simple, honest, and serve the user — not just look impressive. He studied existing computers, spotted that they were beige, boxy, and unfriendly, then used research about what users actually needed to create products like the iMac and iPhone. His key lesson: understand your user deeply before you put pen to paper. When you research like Ive, your final design decisions are backed by evidence, not guesswork.

📝 Design criteria are a list of specific requirements your product must meet. They come directly from your research. A good criterion is precise and testable — meaning you can check whether your finished product meets it or not. Weak criterion: 'It should look nice.' Strong criterion: 'The product must use at least two contrasting colours to appeal to users aged 10–12.' Notice the difference? Strong criteria mention the user, include measurable details, and cover aspects from ACCESSFM. Aim to write 6–8 criteria before you begin sketching — they act as your checklist throughout the whole design and make process.

✏️ Once you have your criteria, you sketch ideas. A design sketch is not a work of art — it is a thinking tool. Designers produce multiple quick sketches (often called thumbnails) to explore different possibilities before choosing the most promising one to develop. Every sketch must include annotations — written notes that explain your thinking. An annotation might describe the material chosen, explain why a shape was selected, or note a measurement. Annotations transform a picture into a design communication, showing the examiner (and your future self!) that you made deliberate, informed decisions.

🔬 For more complex products, designers also draw cross-sectional diagrams. A cross-section shows what a product looks like if you sliced through it — revealing the internal components and how they fit together. Think of cutting an orange in half and seeing the segments inside. In D&T, a cross-sectional diagram might show the layers inside a packaged food product, the internal mechanism of a torch, or the separate compartments inside a lunchbox. Labels with leader lines (thin lines pointing from the label to the correct part) make cross-sections clear and professional. Always include a title and scale if relevant.

🌟 You now have the core toolkit of a professional designer: ACCESSFM for evaluating existing products, insights from key designers like Jony Ive, strong design criteria to guide every decision, and the skills to communicate ideas through annotated sketches and cross-sectional diagrams. Remember — great design is never accidental. Every colour, material, shape and size is chosen because it solves a problem for a real user. In your next lesson, you will apply all of this to develop your own innovative product concept. Keep your criteria close — they are your compass throughout the entire design and make journey. 🧭