PDG can assist with all or any of the stages in the design process.  This overview of the process is not necessarily comprehensive, but details our normal method for working through a project.  At all stages we endeavour to work with you to create the best, most suitable solution for you, with each stage being signed off by you before we progress to the next.  For more information on each of the stages, please select from the menu above.

Specification

The easiest way to consider a specification for a project is what will it do, how will it do it? The specification document is an important part of setting up a project that is successful and achieves the end result you are looking for.  It gives as much detail on the project as possible without fixed constraints such as, ‘the LCD screen must be 100mm x 30mm’, unless absolutely necessary.  Where quantified, specification items would normally be given a range, ‘to work between temperatures of –5 to +45°C’, for instance.   The specification would normally cover a spread of aspects identifying needs and wants, from general size requirements and performance factors to emotional requirements like the need for a product to be perceived in a particular way or for it to have a particular ‘feel’.  Compliance required to regulatory specs. such as CE or TUV should also be included.  Budgetary costs for the final product price can also be included. It is essential to realise that a specification is a ‘living document’ in that it can and almost certainly will change as the project proceeds.  As a product develops new issues often arise that require changes to the original specification.  We try to be as flexible as possible with regards to this and remain aware of the fact that the further through the project you go, the greater the costs associated with change, normally considered to rise exponentially.  With this in mind we endeavour to tie down any changes as early as possible and most importantly, before manufacture of any high cost tooling.  Hence our strong recommendation of the use of prototyping where appropriate. The specification, whether written by you or by PDG, is a key part of our design process that helps see that we meet and exceed your expectations of the project.