Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of design factors taken into consideration during the design process. Twenty undergraduates who had acquired fundamental knowledge about design and manufacturing participated in a trial which required them to design a multi-purpose unit. We extracted the design factors: 'size'; 'shapes'; 'function'; 'materials'; 'processing method'; and 'frame and strength' from students' questionnaire responses, and the order and frequency with which they appeared were examined. Based on this a design sequence was inferred. At the initial stage the following sequence was suggested: decisions on the materials from which components are made into articles; decisions on the shape and size of articles with due consideration of the articles' functions. In the process of optimization when improving and reconstructing articles, two sequences were suggested. One involved a forward direction based on design factors observed at the initial stage: imagination of how the article sill be used; examination of how the article will be manufactured; and examination of the structure and strength of the article. The second sequence involved a backward direction with a re-examination of the articles shown in the preceding process.
