This document outlines the importance of creating an effective design specification. It directly influences the design ideas, final product, and project grades. The specification demonstrates applying research knowledge from earlier stages. Like the personal project, the specification is crucial and dictates what must be done based on informed decisions from research. An effective specification comes from good research, while poor research leads to a poor specification. The specification should consider demands that must be achieved, limits to avoid, and wishes that are ideals but not required for success.

1. Design Specification

2. Apart from in Design,
where have you used it before?

3. Success Criteria
Personal Project

4. Importance of the Specification
• It directly influences your design ideas
• It directly influences your final product
• It effects your grade both for this task and then again for the
Evaluation tasks in Stage D (do a good specification now, and have
good reliable tests in Stage D, do a poor specification now and have
poor testing in Stage D) – You cannot change it later – these are the
Success Criteria you must stick to
• The specification shows that you are putting into practice the
knowledge and information you learnt in conducting your research
from Stage A.

5. The same importance as in the PP
• As with the PP, it is crucial to your entire project
• The Specifications are created as a result of you making informed
decisions based on your research
• The Specifications dictate what you must do throughout the
remainder of the project in order to make a successful product

6. Application of
knowledge learntGood research Effective Specifications
Ignoring of
knowledge learntLittle research Poor Specifications

7. Demands, Limits, Wishes
The three categories to consider when writing your specifications:
• Demands – Essentials that your product must: achieve, contain, do,
be, look like, sound like, be made of, etc. These must be achieved by
the final product.
• Limits – Things to avoid completely along the same lines as the above
• Wishes – Ideals, which wouldn’t determine if your products is a
success or not, but could be the ‘cherry on the cake’ if you are able to
achieve them.