Product analysis

Start with the main questions

Product analysis is a section of The Design Process unit in Design and technology. Start with the mind map Access FM Layout, which brings together aesthetics, size, materials and manufacturing techniques, cost, safety, function and the client. Its questions offer a way to organize your thinking as you look through the other resources on this page.

For example, the map asks whether a product looks attractive and points to its shape, form, materials and size. Use those prompts to describe what you notice before moving on to questions about cost, safety and function.

Explore a project example

Next, look at GCSE Project - Questions - Shoe Rack. It turns headings such as aesthetics and cost into questions about a particular product. The map asks whether the rack will be curved or painted, whether there will be lights inside the storage, and what type of wood will be used.

Compare those questions with the headings in Access FM Layout. Notice how a broad point about materials becomes a more specific question about wood and side panels. This can help school students practice moving from a category to a question they can use in an analysis.

Compare other approaches

GCSE Project Analysis covers environment, customer, material, cost, function, safety, size and aesthetics. Its questions include which group of resistant materials will be used and whether the product is weather resistant. Portable Speaker Brainstorming also includes customer and ergonomics, alongside materials and components.

Teachers can use the maps as examples of how users have organized their ideas. Students can compare the questions and headings, then decide which are useful for the product they are examining. Together, the maps show different ways to approach this section of The Design Process.

Choose a map to start with, then follow its branches to build a set of questions for your own product analysis.