3 Design

Switch on

Look at products A-F in pairs. Answer the questions for each product.

1. What is it?

2. Who uses it?

3. What do you think makes the design good or bad?

Listening

The design process

1 Listen to a designer talking about the design process.Complete the missing stages by choosing from the list.

a choosing a solution

b evaluating

с investigating

d realization

e the design brief

In this unit

• key terms in design

• speaking and writing about design requirements

• how to ask Yes / No and Information questions

• listening to and reading about designers describing their work

• using your search skills to find out about the work of famous designers

2Match the questions to each stage in the design process. There is more than one question for some stages.

EXAMPLE

Question Stage

Is it safe? 6 testing

a What are the most suitable materials ?

b Does it work?

с What exactly is required ?

d How well does it match the brief?

e How will the product look?

f Is this the best design ?

g How many ways are there to solve this problem?

h How can we make a prototype?

i Can it be improved?

• Language spot

Question types

• Yes / No and information questions

When we want the answer Yes or No, we ask questions like these: Does it work? Is it safe?

• For specific information, we ask questions like these: How will the product look? What materials are available?

• Yes / No questions start with an auxiliary verb (can, do, has, is, will, etc.) which is followed by the subject: Did you test it?

• Information questions start with a Wh- question word (what, where, when, which, who, why, or with how, how much, how many, how long, etc.). Note the auxiliary verb and the word order when the question word is the object:

What does he design?

» Go to Grammar reference p.116

18 Unit 3

Customer care

Using non-specialist language

1 Make the statements into Yes / No questions.

1. It's safe.

2. It works well.

3. You can mould some plastics easily.

4. She made a model.

5. He has designed a lot of products.

6. You design sports equipment.

7. The materials are available.

8. He built a prototype.

9 They've drawn a lot of sketches. 10 She thinks nylon is the best choice.

2 Ask information questions to get the answers.

1 Where ?

She works in London.

2 When ?

She moved there in 2006.

3 What ?

She designs mobile phones.

4 Who ?

I work with a team.

5 Which material ?

We use plastic.

6 Why ?

Because it's easy to mould.

7 How ?

This model weighs 120 grammes.

8 How ?

It costs €400.

9 How ?

It has more than twenty functions.

10 Where ?

You can buy it anywhere.

1 A computer specialist is trying to advise a non- specialist about which monitor to buy. Which parts of his explanation might be difficult for a non-specialist to understand?

"The monitor is an important part of the human interface with the computer. I advise this TFT XGA 19-inch flat panel. This model has 1024 by 768 pixels so you get a high-resolution display."

2 Compare this version. Has the specialist missed out anything important?

" When you work on a computer, the monitor is very important. It has to be the right size and give you a clear picture so it's comfortable to work with. The screen size is measured diagonally from one corner to another. You need at least a 19-inch screen. The picture is composed of tiny picture elements or 'pixels'. The more pixels you have, the sharper the display. This model has a high number of pixels so you'll get a very good display."

3 Work in pairs. Prepare an explanation for a non- specialist of one of these topics or on a topic in your own field. Then try your explanation with a new partner.

• how a diesel engine works

• how a semiconductor works

• how GPS works

• how a nuclear power station works

Design 19

You see things and you say 'Why?'. But a designer dreams things that never were and says 'Why not?'. George Bernard Shaw adapted by Dick Powell