EPICS Design Process - Purdue University

1 EPICS Design Process Project Identification Phase: Goal is to identify a specific, compelling need to be addressed Conduct needs assessment (if need not already defined). Common tasks Identify stakeholders (customer, users, person maintaining project, etc.). Define basic stakeholder requirements (objectives or goals of projects and constraints). Determine time constraints of the project Gate 1: Continue if have identified appropriate EPICS project that meets a compelling need Specification Development Phase: Goal is to understand what is needed by understanding the context, stakeholders, requirements of the project, and why current solutions don't meet need, and to develop measurable criteria in which Design concepts can be evaluated.

2 Understand and describe context (current situation and environment). Common tasks Create stakeholder profiles Create mock-ups and simple prototypes: quick, low-cost, multiple cycles incorporating feedback Develop a task analysis and define how users will interact with project (user scenarios). Compare to benchmark products (prior art). Develop customer specifications and evaluation criteria; get project partner approval Gate 2: Continue if project partner and advisor agree that have identified the right need, and if no existing commercial products meet Design specifications. Conceptual Design Phase: Goal is to expand the Design space to include as many solutions as possible.

3 Evaluate different approaches and selecting best one to move forward. Exploring how . Conduct Functional Decomposition Common Brainstorm several possible solutions tasks Create prototypes of multiple concepts, get feedback from users, refine specifications Evaluate feasibility of potential solutions (proof-of-concept prototypes); select one to move forward Gate 3: Continue if project partner and advisor agree that solution space has been appropriately explored and the best solution has been chosen. Detailed Design Phase: Goal is to Design working prototype which meets functional specifications. Design /analysis/evaluation of project, sub-modules and/or components (freeze interfaces).

4 Common tasks Complete DFMEA analysis of project Prototyping of project, sub-modules and/or components Field test prototype/usability testing Gate 4: Continue if can demonstrate feasibility of solution (is there a working prototype?). Project Partner and advisor approval required. Delivery Phase: Goal is to refine detailed Design so as to produce a product that is ready to be delivered! In addition, the goal is to develop user manuals and training materials. Common tasks: Complete user manuals/training material Complete usability and reliability testing Complete delivery review Gate 5: Continue if Project Partner, Advisor and EPICS Admin agree that project is ready for delivery!

5 Service/Maintenance Phase Common tasks: Evaluate performance of fielded project Determine what resources are necessary to support and maintain the project Gate 6: Project Partner and Advisor approve continued fielding of project. If not, retire or redesign. Retirement or Redesign Copyright 2009 EPICS -1- 1/7/2010. EPICS Design Process Project Identification Specification Redesign Development Retirement Needs Assessment User Analysis Observation Brainstorming Research Stakeholders Conceptual User Training Prototyping Design Field Testing Scenarios Usability Testing . Service Detailed Maintenance Design Delivery Design and the Design Process Dym and Little (2004) define engineering Design to be a thoughtful development of objects that perform desired functions within given limits.

6 This thoughtful development can be described as a Process . There are many different descriptions of the Design Process , varying from a few steps to over a hundred. Although the descriptions are different, there is a commonality among them that conveys a general knowledge of the Process associated with Design . One of the differences is that some of the Design processes focus significantly more on the people involved in Design . These have been referred to as human-centered or user-centered Design processes. The EPICS Design Process model is human-centered and will use it in the course to demonstrate and guide you through the Design Process . The EPICS Design Process consists of the following phases: Project Identification Specification Development Conceptual Design Detailed Design Delivery Service and Maintenance (Retirement).

7 The EPICS Design Process model is not intended to be a recipe for Design , or simply an exercise that you need to complete. It is a heuristic (general principle or rule of thumb ) for Design and will guide your thoughtful development , help you to determine the desired functions within given limits . The center portion of the graphic indicates a number of tasks that can be completed throughout the Design Process , such as brainstorming, prototyping, and usability testing. There are iteration cycles in each step with the stakeholders (the customer, user, client, etc.) that represent the involvement of the Copyright 2009 EPICS -2- 1/7/2010. EPICS Design Process stakeholder in the development of the solution continuously throughout the Design Process .

8 Although the overall goal is to move through the phases, sometimes you gain new knowledge about the requirements, constraints, users, context, usability and/or capabilities of technologies being used that make it necessary to iterate, or go back to previous phase and complete it again. However, there are a couple of points in the Design Process that are go vs. no-go decision points that require an agreement from the project partner, advisors, and/or EPICS administration to go forward with the Design . They are indicated as Gates in the Design Process . The use of Gates is very common in industry, where meeting certain criteria is required to gain additional resources in the development of the product.

9 Project Identification Phase: The goal of the Project Identification phase is to identify a specific, compelling need to be addressed. To meet that goal, it is important to better understand the need that your project partner has asked you to help address, and begin to translate the statement of need expressed by the project partner into tangible and specific requirements that will guide your Design . Although it is tempting to devote very little time and attention to this phase to get to the real work of your project, the success of your project depends on how well you complete this phase. The knowledge and insight that you learn from this phase should be summarized in the Project Charter, which is the initial section of the Project Management document for project.

10 Both the Project Partner and Team should approve the Project Charter as the guiding document for the overall project. It is important that the new team members read the Project Charter to gain an understanding of the motivation. It is also helpful for team members to review the document throughout the Design to prevent scope creep. It is natural for both the customer and designers to want to add functionality to the Design as the progress inspires new ideas. However, it is important that any changes to the scope be deliberate, and that everyone understands, and agrees to, the impact of the changes. The following are a set of tasks to help you begin your project and work through the Project Identification phase.