Product Design and Technologies syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the VIC Product Design and Technologies study design, in syllabus order, with a focused answer for each. Open any dot point for the answer, exam-style questions and links to related points.
Unit 3: Influences and designing for end-users
Unit overview →How do you generate a wide range of design ideas and then develop and refine them into resolved options using visualisations and design thinking?
How do economic factors such as cost, budget, scale and market demand constrain and shape product design decisions?
What are the different scales of industrial production, and how does the chosen scale shape the materials, processes, cost and design of a product?
What research methods uncover what an end-user or stakeholder actually needs, and how do primary and secondary research differ in what they can tell you?
What are the design factors, and how do the elements and principles of design, function, purpose and context shape and justify the form of a product?
How can a designer evaluate existing products and judge their success against sustainability, innovation and ethical considerations?
How do you turn an end-user's needs into a design brief and a set of evaluation criteria that will later judge the product?
Who is an end-user, who are the wider stakeholders, and how does designing for real people rather than yourself change every decision in the folio?
How do new and emerging technologies such as CAD, additive manufacturing, automation and smart materials change the way products are designed and produced?
How does a structured product design process, such as the Double Diamond, move a designer from a vague problem to a resolved product?
What is the role of the designer, and how do intellectual property protections such as copyright, design registration, patents and trade marks affect product design?
How do you select a final design from several options, justify it against evaluation criteria and end-user feedback, and prove the concept will work before manufacturing?
How do social, economic, environmental and other factors influence the way products are designed, developed and produced?
Unit 4: Producing and evaluating products
Unit overview →How do you judge whether your finished product succeeded, using your evaluation criteria and end-user feedback?
What is innovation, how does it differ from invention, and how do entrepreneurial activity and design contribute to bringing successful products to market?
How do you identify hazards, assess risks, and apply the hierarchy of hazard control to work safely throughout production?
How does the product life cycle help a designer reduce a product's environmental impact from raw material to disposal?
What are quality measures, and how do you build quality control and quality assurance into production so the finished product meets the required standard?
What is speculative design, and how does imagining preferable futures help designers question assumptions and explore the consequences of products?
How is the VCE Product Design and Technologies examination structured, and how do you answer its question types to maximise marks?
How do the properties of a material determine whether it is the right choice for a particular product and end-user?
How do you select and apply the right production processes, tools and equipment to manufacture a product accurately and efficiently?
How do you plan and safely carry out the manufacture of a product, and record the changes you make along the way?