The Design for Everything Manual: A Guide to Good Design

This concise and readable manual is a useful resource for anyone interested in the design of engineered products and equipment. The Design for Everything Manual integrates a wide range of "design for X" topics such as user-centered design, efficient design, design for manufacture, and coordinated product and process design into a unified "Design for Everything" approach that is easily understood and used regardless of technical background or training. Over the years, a wealth of practical design knowledge has been learned about how to achieve good design. This knowledge is captured by four fundamental rules of good design: the rule of needs, the rule of clarity, the rule of simplicity, and the rule of safety. Good design is achieved by applying these rules in a systematic and disciplined manner to the critical choices that define the design. The manual is derived from notes that the author developed over many years of teaching a course on "Design for X" in the Master of Product Design and Development Program at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. "Design for X" (DFX for short) is a label applied to a large collection of design methods (e.g., Design for Assembly, Lean Design) and design guidelines that address particular design issues. The Design for Everything Manual focuses on the principles and practices that underlie the DFX methods rather than on the methods themselves. It covers the same material and addresses the same spectrum of concerns, but in a simpler and more integrated fashion. Design for Everything is a strategic design approach that is of value to those studying, teaching, and practicing design across a wide range of disciplines. Design and manufacturing executives, product managers and project managers, and other high-level decision makers can use the manual to quickly learn how to achieve good design. Experienced design engineers and industrial designers can use it as a handy reference. Business students and engineering students can use it as a practical guide for new product development courses and senior design projects. Manufacturing companies can use it to develop a "common language" and "shared vision" for good design. Ultimately, all designers can use it as a guiding light for achieving the elusive goal of "doing it right the first time."