WACE ATAR Design key terms

A written statement agreed with a client that sets out the problem to be solved, the target user, constraints, budget, timeline and the criteria against which the final design will be judged.

The specific, measurable standards a solution must meet, derived from the brief, so that competing concepts can be compared and the finished outcome evaluated objectively.

Fixed limits within which a designer must work, such as budget, materials availability, manufacturing capability, legal requirements, time, or the physical dimensions of a site or product.

Detailed technical requirements for a product or environment, including dimensions, tolerances, materials, performance levels and finishes, written precisely enough to guide production and quality checking.

A cyclical approach in which ideas are generated, tested, evaluated and refined repeatedly, with each loop improving the solution rather than following a single straight sequence of steps.

The structured sequence of investigating, defining, ideating, developing, testing and evaluating that designers use to move from an identified need to a resolved outcome.

A thinking mode that deliberately widens the range of possible responses, producing many varied ideas before judgement is applied, so that unusual or innovative options are not dismissed too early.

A narrowing mode of thought in which options are compared against criteria, weaknesses eliminated and a single preferred direction selected for further development and testing.

The stage of generating candidate concepts, often through sketching, brainstorming, morphological analysis or analogy, before any one idea is committed to detailed development.

The progressive refinement of a chosen idea through annotated sketches, models, material trials and testing, resolving form, function and detail while documenting the reasoning behind each decision.

A physical or digital version of a design built to test specific aspects of performance, ergonomics or manufacture, allowing faults to be found before full production is committed.

A simplified, often non-functional model at full or reduced scale used to check proportions, spatial relationships or visual appearance rather than mechanical performance.

A representation built at a fixed ratio to the intended object or space, used to communicate three-dimensional form and to test relationships that drawings alone cannot show clearly.

A precisely dimensioned technical drawing, usually orthographic, that gives a manufacturer or builder the information needed to construct the design accurately.

A drawing method showing a three-dimensional object as separate flat views, typically front, top and side, arranged so that each view is drawn at right angles to the others.

A pictorial drawing in which the three axes are set 120 degrees apart, showing three faces of an object at once without perspective convergence, useful for clear three-dimensional communication.

A drawing or computer-generated image that simulates materials, lighting and surface qualities to show how a finished design will appear in use.

Computer-aided design: software used to construct, edit and output precise two- and three-dimensional drawings and models, enabling rapid revision and accurate dimensioning.

Additive manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing, that build a physical part directly from a digital model, allowing designers to test form quickly and cheaply.

Notes, labels and comments added to sketches or drawings to explain materials, dimensions, function or design intent so that a reader can understand decisions without verbal explanation.

An ongoing record of a designer's investigations, sketches, experiments, failures and reflections, used as evidence of thinking and as a tool for reviewing progress.

The curated body of work submitted for assessment, presenting the design journey from initial research through development to final resolution, with evidence of decisions and evaluation.

The planned communication of a design outcome to an audience, using appropriate drawings, models, samples and spoken or written explanation to convey intent and value.

The person or organisation commissioning a design, whose needs, budget and preferences shape the brief and who judges whether the delivered outcome is acceptable.

The person who will actually use or occupy the designed product, space or system, whose needs may differ from those of the client who pays for it.

Any individual or group affected by or interested in a design outcome, including users, clients, manufacturers, neighbours, regulators and the wider community.

The measurement of human body dimensions and reach, used to size products and spaces so that they fit the intended range of users comfortably and safely.

The study of how people interact with products and environments, applied to reduce strain, improve comfort and efficiency, and support safe use over time.

Designing products and environments so they can be used by the widest possible range of people without adaptation, regardless of age, ability or circumstance.

An approach that deliberately considers excluded or marginalised users during design, so the resulting outcome works better for everyone rather than being retrofitted for a minority.

The extent to which a product, space or information source can be reached, understood and used by people with varied sensory, cognitive or physical abilities.

Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, applied in design through material choice, energy use, longevity, repairability and end-of-life planning.

A systematic assessment of the environmental impacts of a product across raw material extraction, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal or recycling.

Designing a product so its parts can be separated easily at end of life for repair, reuse or recycling, typically using mechanical fixings rather than permanent bonding.

A design philosophy in which materials circulate endlessly through biological or technical cycles, so waste from one process becomes food for another rather than being sent to landfill.

The sensory and visual qualities of a design, such as form, proportion, colour, texture and finish, and the judgements people make about them.

The principle that the shape and appearance of a design should be determined primarily by what it must do, rather than applied decoration being added afterwards.

The arrangement of elements so that the viewer's attention moves in a deliberate order, achieved through size, contrast, colour, position and spacing.

Judging a design against its criteria and user needs, using evidence from testing, feedback and observation to decide what works, what fails and what should change.

Purposeful thinking about one's own design decisions and process, identifying what was learned, what assumptions proved wrong and how future work should differ.

Planned trials that measure whether a design meets specified performance criteria, carried out on models, prototypes or with real users under controlled conditions.