The Design Process - Medical Device Design: Innovation from Concept to Market - page 34

Open Selective

Need Product

Detailed
design

Conceptual
design

Clarification Embodiment

Documentation

Survival

of the
fittest

Figure 3.7
Medical devices design model.

Moving from left to right takes us through the stages presented earlier. Firstly a need is
established; secondly the full background to the need is clarified; thirdly concepts are
developed; and finally detailed design takes us to a final outcome. There are three more
phases to consider, which present the overall philosophy. The first overall phase is “open”:
this means the designer needs to be open to everything - there are no holds barred, nothing
is considered to be stupid. This phase only works if the designer is open to suggestion. The
middle phase, “survival of the fittest,” is a selection phase. Here the designer picks the best
option; that is why you need an open phase otherwise you would have nothing to pick from.
The third phase is a “selective” phase; here the designer is selective about what they do and
the tasks undertaken are often highly prescribed. Figure 3.8 attempts to illustrate this by
describing the kind of activity undertaken during the design process. The very start of the
process is methodical (producing the statement of need ), but soon the brain starts to work