About

Engineers have laws that govern how things work, such as the forces of gravity, electricity, and magnetism; and Newton’s laws of motion, which you learn about in physics class. Still, the laws of physics may tell you what you can and can’t do, but they won’t tell you what you ought and ought not to do. These practical design principles are important ideas to guide you to make the right choices when designing.​​​​​​​

The Design Principles

Design things that do no harm. Neither users of your design idea may be harmed, nor anyone else. One example is how electric-powered devices must be well insulated to protect people from getting an electric shock. Another example is how toy designers must design toys that are fun to play with without harming the children in any way, so they only use non-toxic materials and paints in the toys, for instance.

Increase well-being
​​​​​​​Design things that increase the well-being of everyone. Design things that are useful, essential, informative, or fun. We design to make the world a better place. For example, computers and software programs have improved our lives over the years by letting us do more work, quicker and easier, while making fewer mistakes. Only experts could use computers in the past, but nowadays, even children can easily use a computer or smartphone. Another example is how furniture is designed for comfort, giving us a pleasurable experience. ​​​​​​​

Design efficient things​​​​​​​
The thing that you design ought to be efficient. That means it uses a minimum amount of resources, such as raw materials, and energy or effort by the user. For example; cars, motorcycles, aeroplanes, trains, and vehicles of all types are designed to be as light and as fuel efficient as possible in order to save fuel, because fuel is the greatest expense of a vehicle. Bicycles are designed to be lighter, more aerodynamic, and more efficient so that a cyclist can go faster and farther with the same effort. Another example is how things are designed efficiently to be cheaper to buy and use so that more people can afford them.

Preserve the environment
​​​​​​​Design products and services that do no harm to the environment. This is difficult to do, as humans have been damaging the environment for centuries. Still, now is a good time to improve matters by designing things that protect and care for the environment. One way is to substitute the materials used in products with recyclable materials. For example, by designing a chair to be made from aluminium or wood, which are much easier to recycle than plastic. Another way is to make disposable food packaging out of paper or card, or to make disposable cutlery out of wood or bamboo. Paper, card, wood, and bamboo are less polluting to the environment than disposable plastic. Still, the best way is to avoid making disposable things at all. Another important way to preserve the environment is to replace the things that are powered by burning fuels, such as petrol or diesel engines and oil or coal-powered ovens and fireplaces, because fossil fuels give off carbon dioxide and other noxious gases which pollute the atmosphere and harm the environment. Electrical devices are better because they can be powered by solar power, wind power, or hydroelectricity, which are much less damaging to the environment.
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Questions to discuss

• Can you think of things that are designed to do actual harm?
• Can you think of products or services that increase well-being, and products or services that decrease well-being?
• Can you think of products or services that are efficient, and products or services that are inefficient?
• Can you think of products or services that preserve the environment, and products or services that harm the environment?
• What would you do if your boss asked you to design something that went against your principles?​​​​