Design and Technology – Product analysis and evaluation | e-Consult
Product analysis and evaluation (1 questions)
Login to see all questions.
Click on a question to view the answer
The student has several options for evaluating their ergonomic chair design. Here's a discussion of three methods, including their advantages and disadvantages:
- Testing (Physical Prototyping): This involves creating a physical prototype of the chair and allowing users (students) to sit in it and provide feedback.
- Advantages: Provides direct feedback on comfort, support, and usability. Identifies physical flaws in the design.
- Disadvantages: Can be time-consuming and expensive to create prototypes. User feedback can be subjective and influenced by personal preferences. Requires a suitable testing environment.
- User Feedback (Questionnaires & Interviews): The student could create questionnaires or conduct interviews with potential users to gather their opinions on the design.
- Advantages: Relatively inexpensive and easy to implement. Can gather a large amount of data quickly. Provides insights into user needs and preferences.
- Disadvantages: Questionnaires can suffer from low response rates. Interviews can be time-consuming and may be biased by the interviewer. Difficult to determine *why* users have certain opinions.
- Cost Analysis: Evaluating the cost of materials, manufacturing, and potential retail price is crucial for viability.
- Advantages: Determines if the chair is economically feasible to produce and sell. Identifies areas where costs can be reduced.
- Disadvantages: Doesn't directly assess user satisfaction or usability. Requires accurate cost estimations, which can be challenging. May not reflect the perceived value of the chair to users.
The student should consider the target audience when choosing methods. A combination of methods is often best to provide a comprehensive evaluation.