Quality during Design
154 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago -Quality during Design is a podcast for product designers, engineers, and anyone else who cares about creating high-quality products. In each episode, we explore the principles of quality design, from user-centered thinking to iterative development. We introduce frameworks to make better design decisions and reduce costly re-designs. We explore ways to co-work with cross-functional teams. We also talk to experts in the field about their experiences and insights.
Join host Dianna Deeney in using quality thinking throughout the design process to create products others love, for less. Whether you're a seasoned designer or just starting out, looking to improve your existing designs or start from scratch, Quality during Design is the podcast for you.
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Episodes
Challenges Getting Team Input in Concept Development
February 15, 2023 11:00 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBSend us a Text Message. This is the wrap-up, final episode of our series - the 7th episode in our series about generating ideas with a team toward action. Since the start of 2023, we focused on a few quality tools and methods to both generate ideas and then choose which idea to pursue. We've talked about: Changing our scope to a closed world, to failures or questions, or design heuristics Brainstorming within a problem-solving framework Grouping many ideas and then further refining t...
Brainstorming within Design Sprints
February 08, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.6 MBSend us a Text Message. We're in our 6th episode into our series about generating ideas with our team toward action. The first two episodes were all about idea generation. The 3rd through 5th episodes was about using Quality Tools to help us group, explore, prioritize, and decide on an idea. This episode is exploring a Design Sprint, a method to develop a design concept with a team in 5 working days. We build upon what we've already covered, plus some big takeaways about brainstorming from...
After the 'Storm: Compare and Prioritize Ideas
February 01, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 8.98 MBSend us a Text Message. We're in our 5th episode of our series about generating ideas with our team toward action. The first two episodes were all about idea generation. The 3rd was about grouping and exploring ideas. The 4th was about screening ideas. Now, we'll look at ways to compare ideas. We’re still considering that we're just after brainstorming, at the point where we have many ideas and no next steps. Let's compare ideas with our team so we can move toward action. We explore thes...
After the 'Storm: Pareto Voting and Screening Methods
January 25, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 12 MBSend us a Text Message. We're in our 4th episode into our series about generating ideas with our team toward action. The first two episodes were all about idea generation. The 3rd was about grouping and exploring ideas. We’re still considering that we're just after brainstorming, at the point where we have many ideas and no next steps. Let's instead screen our ideas so we can move toward action. We explore these Quality Tools and how to use them after a brainstorming or other idea-genera...
After the 'Storm: Group and Explore Ideas
January 18, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBSend us a Text Message. We're on our 3rd episode in our series about generating ideas with our team toward action. The previous two episodes were all about idea generation. We’re now at the point where we have many ideas and no next steps. Let's group and explore our ideas so we can move toward action. We explore these Quality Tools and how to use them after a brainstorming or other idea-generating team activity: Affinity Diagram team sorting method Fishbone Tree Diagrams Visit the...
Product Design with Brainstorming, with Emily Haidemenos (A Chat with Cross Functional Experts)
January 11, 2023 11:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBSend us a Text Message. This episode is part of our interview series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts". Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team for new product development. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they're involved and work with product design engineering teammates. Emily Haidemenos joins us to talk about brainstorming for product develop...
Ways to Gather Ideas with a Team
January 04, 2023 13:00 - 10 minutes - 7.5 MBSend us a Text Message. Sometimes we need to gather with our team and come up with some ideas. Whether we’re looking for new product ideas, trying to discover possible solutions, or need to improve a service, gathering a team to come up with ideas is common. What are some of the ways we approach this activity? We talk about systematic and structured methods and new approaches to brainstorming. Doing the same, old thing doesn't lead to new thinking and can leave us with stale ideas. We...
The Spirits of Technical Writing Past, Present, and Future
December 28, 2022 14:00 - 11 minutes - 8.26 MBSend us a Text Message. As engineers, we need to write reports all the time. Are ours getting returned by reviewers frequently? Or are we not getting any feedback and are not sure when our report is 'done'? We explore the spirits of technical writing past, present, and future. We explore how and why they help us to write for ALL of our audiences. Visit the podcast blog for excerpts. Other Quality during Design podcast episodes you might like: About Using Slide Decks for Technical D...
The Gifts Others Bring
December 21, 2022 15:00 - 11 minutes - 8 MBSend us a Text Message. What are the gifts others bring to new product development? It takes intentional actions and acknowledgement to understand how to bring design inputs into our designs from other people. We consider project teams like a neighborhood and how this frame of mind can help our designs. Visit the podcast blog. Other Quality during Design podcast episodes you might like: The DFE Part of DFX (Design For Environment and eXcellence) How to Self-Advocate for More Custo...
Next Steps after Suprising Test Results
December 14, 2022 17:00 - 9 minutes - 6.87 MBSend us a Text Message. During product development, we're consistently looking for ways to learn more about the product in order to make design decisions. Some of that comes from test. What do we do when our test results are...surprising? We talk about some next steps I typically take when tasked with surprises: revisiting the purpose, understanding failure modes at test vs. what we expected (requirements and FMEA), finding a root cause (with the help of FMEA), and deciding what to do n...
Choose Reliability Goals for Modules
December 07, 2022 15:00 - 9 minutes - 6.87 MBSend us a Text Message. We have a reliability target for our system. But we're not meeting it. To avoid this scenario, what is something we can do in early development? When we're figuring out our concept, we can better learn about our options. We can work with Reliability Engineers to understand what we know, the risk in what we don't know, and to prioritize reliability of the modules to be able to meet the reliability of our whole system. We talk about using reliability allocation to...
Start a System Architecture Diagram Early
November 30, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutes - 5.77 MBSend us a Text Message. New product development projects are really exciting at the start. Even though we know very little about what the final product is going to look like, we can still use a quick graphical tool to help us direct our engineering attention. We talk about ways to use a very simple System Architecture Diagram to help us investigate what is new, different, or has been a problem in the past. We also discuss ways we can continue to iterate on it throughout development to hel...
Why Yield Quality at the Front-End of Product Development
November 23, 2022 13:00 - 9 minutes - 6.83 MBSend us a Text Message. We can find Quality at the back-end of product creation, where it's used for compliance. We want to pick up some of it and move it to the front-end, where design decisions are happening. It's there that we can yield it like a tool to work with our cross-functional team, to help us with doing the engineering work that's important for great designs. We explore why Quality can help us PRUNE the development process just by the nature of how it's used. And we highlight ...
QDD Book Cast
November 16, 2022 22:00 - 16 minutes - 11.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Where do we sometimes need to look for inspiration? Books! We talk about 11 books in 5 different topics that are useful for different perspectives on engineering and design topics. And I tell you what I'm most looking forward to reading next. What book recommendations do you have for me? Find a link to the book list on the podcast blog. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Making is enrolling students...
Engineering in the Color Economy
November 09, 2022 17:00 - 10 minutes - 7.04 MBSend us a Text Message. What is engineering in the color economy? We explore facets of sustainable economic models: Green, Blue, Yellow, and Orange. Where do you fit in now? Where would you like to be? And how can you make design choices within each (or all!) of these color economies? There's more on the blog for this podcast. Want to download the 12 things checklist? Visit this link. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Maki...
Getting to Great Designs
November 02, 2022 20:00 - 11 minutes - 8.15 MBSend us a Text Message. What makes a great design? It depends. We talk about the spectrum of designs (from great to spam), the various customers engineers need to design for, and how engineers can work with their team toward defining what a great design should be. You're invited to download a checklist: 12 things you should have before a design concept makes it to the engineering drawing board. Download Here Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk...
Get clarity on goals with a continuum
October 26, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 6.04 MBSend us a Text Message. We worked on a project with our team and met our goal! Except, management isn't happy - they expected something else. Seeing if we have alignment on goals is easy if we gather the team and stakeholders for 10 minutes and use a continuum. There are certain categories that goals will fall within. A continuum is a way we can list those categories, get alignment, and gain an understanding of how 'big' of a project this is going to be. We get clarity on our goals. ...
Variable Relationships: Correlation and Causation
October 19, 2022 19:00 - 7 minutes - 5.24 MBSend us a Text Message. Relationships matter! And they can be difficult to understand. We're taking relationships between variables. Does one variable affect another? Or do they just correlate? Understanding which matters to the values of our decisions. We talk about the saying "Correlation does not imply causation", how to find a confounding variable, and ways to check that we've got the triggering cause that's going to affect our outcome. When we're under pressure to figure something o...
Use Meetings to Add Productivity
October 12, 2022 11:00 - 11 minutes - 8.07 MBSend us a Text Message. Meetings to ADD productivity to our day? Yes! We need our time to be productive, individually. We also need input from our team. We can use meetings to add productivity to our day, if done right. We break it down: hours in a day, limits of humans, and the minimum requirements of a good meeting. Visit the podcast blog for extra information about Lean Coffee(tm). Other Quality during Design podcast episodes you might like: Product Design from a Data Professiona...
Ways to Partner with Test Engineers
October 05, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 6.14 MBSend us a Text Message. We have test results but realize that testing didn't go as planned. What can we do to help prevent this scenario? We talk about ways to partner with test engineers and test technicians and the importance of still maintaining their independence. The podcast blog and others are available on www.qualityduringdesign.com. Other Quality during Design podcast episodes you might like: Design Input & Specs vs. Test & Measure Capability Choosing a Confidence Level for T...
Ways to Partner with Test Engineers
October 05, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 6.13 MBWe have test results but realize that testing didn't go as planned. What can we do to help prevent this scenario? We talk about ways to partner with test engineers and test technicians and the importance of still maintaining their independence. The podcast blog and others are available on www.qualityduringdesign.com. Other Quality during Design podcast episodes you might like: Design Input & Specs vs. Test & Measure Capability Choosing a Confidence Level for Test using FMEA The Way W...
What do we do with FMEA early in design concept?
September 28, 2022 12:00 - 7 minutes - 5.24 MBSend us a Text Message. I've mentioned in previous episodes that it's best to do FMEA early in the design concept phases of development. Well, if we do FMEA early, then what can with do with it? We explore how to study any risk analyses (system risks, FMEA, hazard analysis) to help design-out problems, set-up design inputs, and help us figure out test methods. We also talk a bit about why a team is a necessary part of risk analyses. Visit the podcast blog for extra notes. If you like t...
A Severity Scale based on Quality Dimensions
September 14, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 5.68 MBSend us a Text Message. We can develop a severity rating scale based on us: our company, our customer, our product... And we can relate the categories that we use to the quality dimensions that matter to us. We talk about the 7 principal quality dimensions of goods and services, the 5 principal dimensions of quality in customer service, and how we might customize our severity scale based on these dimensions. The podcast blog of this episode includes an example severity scale that incorpor...
Use a Force Field Analysis to Understand Nuances
September 07, 2022 10:00 - 5 minutes - 3.61 MBSend us a Text Message. A force field analysis is a tool in the quality toolbox. Its typical use case is to help a team analyze a change by understanding the forces involved. We can also use it to help us solve a problem. We can use a force field analysis to understand nuances or to get a handle on a change that involves many different people or departments. We envision a force field analysis as a football field during a game. Listen-in and then gather your team and try it out for your ...
Getting Use Information without a Prototype
August 31, 2022 10:00 - 7 minutes - 5.38 MBSend us a Text Message. There is a lot of use information about a new product concept that we can develop, even if we don't have an engineering prototype. We want this information especially before we start prototyping! We talk about what type of information we can gather and a stepwise approach to get it with our cross-functional team. Do you want to explore a little more? How to Self-Advocate for More Customer Face Time (and why it’s important) Product Design from a Marketing Vi...
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Supplements Test
August 24, 2022 09:00 - 8 minutes - 5.9 MBSend us a Text Message. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is not a substitute for product test. It can be used as a supplement to design and test. There are lots of ways to use it during design: to evaluate differences in prototype options, as test inputs, and even to help with root cause analysis. We talk about FEA and when to work with Quality Engineers and Reliability Engineers for next steps. Visit the podcast blog for links to additional resources. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COU...
2 Lessons about Remote Work for Design Engineers
August 17, 2022 10:00 - 9 minutes - 6.71 MBSend us a Text Message. What are 2 lessons about remote work, coming out of the pandemic? We talk about a couple of perspectives that can apply to design engineering: Feedback from our friends that were remote pre-pandemic Being intentional about gaining a frame of reference Have you done a lessons learned about your communications, coming out of the pandemic? What are you carrying forward into the next phase of your engineering career? Leave me a comment on the podcast blog, and maybe y...
Always Plot the Data
August 10, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 5.81 MBSend us a Text Message. We don't just rely on the numbers - we always plot the data! We review how we use plots to look past the numbers, and to be aware of common gotchas. Visit the podcast blog to comment. Related, previous QDD episodes: How to Handle Competing Failure Modes - Quality During Design Discrete Data vs. Continuous Data - Quality During Design Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Making is enrolling students now. V...
Supplier Control Plans and Design Specs
July 27, 2022 14:00 - 9 minutes - 6.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Supplier control plans and design specs can go hand-in-hand in the quest for quality. Control plans aren't just for quality professionals! Learn how partnering with suppliers for a simple control plan can benefit your design process. Visit the podcast blog for a list of benefits. Want to explore controls a little further? Try these other QDD episodes: Prevention Controls vs. Detection Controls How many controls do we need to reduce risk? Design Specs vs. Pro...
Use FMEA to Design for In-Process Testing
July 20, 2022 11:00 - 7 minutes - 5.49 MBSend us a Text Message. Our manufacturing friends are approaching us with a problem. They want to test the product during manufacturing. The way the product is currently designed doesn't let them do this, or not easily. Can we make a design change so they can test? Imagine that they're coming to us with this question before we've completed the design. Can they really see the future? Perhaps, with strategic use of FMEA. We talk through a scenario of how to do it. Visit this podcast b...
Use FMEA to Choose Critical Design Features
July 13, 2022 11:00 - 10 minutes - 6.98 MBSend us a Text Message. We're heading into pilot production, where some initial parts might be made. We've got to finish those design specs and engineering drawings! Manufacturing wants to start cutting steel for molds. Suppliers want to work out the specs on their end. QA is asking what they should inspect. Before you pass it along, have you identified what features are critical? Does it align with managing risk? And are you communicating that effectively on your specs and drawings...
Get Unstuck: Expand and Contract Our Problem
July 06, 2022 12:00 - 12 minutes - 8.84 MBSend us a Text Message. We can get stuck when trying to discover a solution to a problem. We talk about a Nine Windows tool and TRIZ - more thought-provoking methods that we can use to get unstuck and move on to the next step. Visit the podcast blog for graphics and lots of helpful links. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Making is enrolling students now. Visit the course page for more information and to sign up today! Click Here...
Get Unstuck: Reframe our Problem
June 28, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutes - 5.82 MBSend us a Text Message. We can get stuck when trying to discover a solution to a problem. Sometimes it helps to expand our thinking into other avenues. We can reframe our problem within its contradictions. What is it not? We review an Is/Is-Not Matrix: how it's built, its purpose, and how it can help us. Visit the podcast blog for the matrix. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Making is enrolling students now. Visit the course pa...
5 Options to Manage Risks during Product Engineering
June 15, 2022 12:00 - 10 minutes - 7.43 MBSend us a Text Message. We're uncovering risks during our new product development, about our design. How do we manage risks? What options do we have? There are at least 5 options we can take to manage risks. We talk about each, and how quality and reliability methods and techniques may help us with the next steps to be able to make decisions with our team. Visit the podcast blog for links to episodes that explore concepts a little deeper. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA i...
Prioritizing Technical Requirements with a House of Quality
June 08, 2022 11:00 - 12 minutes - 8.47 MBSend us a Text Message. As a design engineer, you’re tasked with translating vague customer statements into something technical and measurable. And you also need to identify what requirements are important: filtering the “must meet” requirements against the “should have” requirements. And, finally, you need to do this with your cross-functional team. What if you miss something important? It’s difficult. There is a method that we can use. Let’s talk about the House of Quality and how yo...
Gemba for Product Design Engineering
June 01, 2022 14:00 - 7 minutes - 5.25 MBSend us a Text Message. If you have quality friends, you may have heard of Gemba. What is Gemba and can it help with product design? Gemba is an ideology. And, yes, it can help with product design! We explore how and talk about why you might want to adopt the term "Gemba" for Product Design Engineering. Visit the podcast blog for links and other QDD episodes that explore these ideas more. Give us a Rating & Review **NEW COURSE** FMEA in Practice: from Plan to Risk-Based Decision Mak...
Product Design from a Data Professional Viewpoint, with Gabor Szabo (A Chat with Cross Functional Experts)
May 25, 2022 16:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBSend us a Text Message. "A Chat with Cross Functional Experts" is a Quality during Design interview series. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team for new product development. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they're involved and work with product design engineering teammates. Today we talk with Gabor Szabo. Gabor is an engineering and data profession...
How Does Reliability Engineering Affect (Not Just Assess) Design?
May 18, 2022 20:00 - 7 minutes - 4.98 MBSend us a Text Message. Reliability Engineering isn't just about assessments. It's about providing information to make decisions. How does reliability engineering affect design? We answer all the questions from the classical Kipling Method: What kind of design inputs can we expect from a Reliability Engineering working relationship? Why is their point of view important? When should we get them involved in the product development cycle? Who can we generally look to for a reliability e...
How Does Reliability Engineering Affect (Not Just Assess) Design?
May 18, 2022 20:00 - 7 minutes - 4.96 MBReliability Engineering isn't just about assessments. It's about providing information to make decisions. How does reliability engineering affect design? We answer all the questions from the classical Kipling Method: What kind of design inputs can we expect from a Reliability Engineering working relationship? Why is their point of view important? When should we get them involved in the product development cycle? Who can we generally look to for a reliability engineering viewpoint? H...
How to use FMEA for Complaint Investigation
May 11, 2022 18:00 - 7 minutes - 5.17 MBSend us a Text Message. FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) is a tool we can use to help us investigate complaints from the field. The FMEA is the collective team knowledge about the risks of this product, so it’s a valuable source in our investigation about what’s going on in the field. We talk through how to go about using FMEA for complaint investigation and what we can do with the information. Visit the QDD Blog for additional links. Other, related QDD posts that you may be i...
3 Tips for Planning Design Reviews
May 04, 2022 17:00 - 13 minutes - 9.05 MBSend us a Text Message. Many presentation books and guides seem to focus on presentations that we see at conferences, for sales pitches, or for executive meetings about business topics. They don't seem applicable to the technical design reviews that engineers host. But they do relate. We talk about just 3 ways that we can change how we can plan technical design reviews, using some of the principles of presentations. Visit the podcast blog for extra links and resources. Give us a Rating...
Product Design from a Marketing Viewpoint, with Laura Krick (A Chat with Cross Functional Experts)
April 27, 2022 13:00 - 30 minutes - 20.6 MBSend us a Text Message. "A Chat with Cross Functional Experts" is a Quality during Design interview series. Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team for new product development. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development, and how they're involved and work with product design engineering teammates. Today we speak with Laura Krick, a VP for a global medical device manufactu...
UFMEA vs. DFMEA
April 20, 2022 03:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBSend us a Text Message. FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) is a super-tool for a team, especially when developing concepts and requirements. Done early, iteratively, and treated as a "living" analysis helps teams throughout development and beyond. Some people seem to either love it or hate it. I don't have a strong reaction like that, but I do think it can be a valuable option for teamwork and design - so much so that I've dedicated a few episodes to it (including this one). We touch...
UFMEA vs. DFMEA
April 20, 2022 03:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBFMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) is a super-tool for a team, especially when developing concepts and requirements. Done early, iteratively, and treated as a "living" analysis helps teams throughout development and beyond. Some people seem to either love it or hate it. I don't have a strong reaction like that, but I do think it can be a valuable option for teamwork and design - so much so that I've dedicated a few episodes to it (including this one). We touch on some of the objection...
Design Input & Specs vs. Test & Measure Capability
April 13, 2022 10:00 - 8 minutes - 5.73 MBSend us a Text Message. When defining design inputs and specifications, what does a design engineer need to consider about the test and measure capability? What are the typical ways that we assess the variability that a test or measurement introduces into our result? Visit the website for additional links and a Venn diagram. https://www.qualityduringdesign.com/qdd/design-input--specs-vs-test--measure-capability Watch this episode on YouTube. Explore More. Get a deeper dive of these topi...
ALT vs. HALT
April 06, 2022 10:00 - 13 minutes - 9.34 MBSend us a Text Message. Reliability engineers may suggest environmental stress tests. There are many types of tests in an RE's toolbox. We compare two types of commonly known tests that are used for design: ALT vs. HALT. What are the important distinctions between these two methods? What value do they each bring to design engineering? And how do they fit into other reliability test methods? Visit the website for additional links, downloads, and a venn diagram. Plus, I link to another fun...
Quality as a Strategic Asset vs. Quality as a Control
March 25, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MBSend us a Text Message. Viewing Quality as a strategic asset to new product development can help us create those products that others love, for less. We talk about some challenges with new product development, the ideal state, and how we can use quality to get there. Use quality engineering and reliability engineering to P.R.U.N.E. the development process so we can develop the best products that we can. Visit the blog for more information and citations. Need more help getting started? Tr...
Quality as a Strategic Asset vs. Quality Control
March 25, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MBViewing Quality as a strategic asset to new product development can help us create those products that others love, for less. We talk about some challenges with new product development, the ideal state, and how we can use quality to get there. Use quality engineering and reliability engineering to P.R.U.N.E. the development process so we can develop the best products that we can. Visit the blog for more information and citations. Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/DiannaD)
Design Specs vs. Process Control, Capability, and SPC
March 16, 2022 17:00 - 12 minutes - 8.35 MBSend us a Text Message. This fourth episode of the "QDD Versus" series focuses on concepts relating to Design for Manufacturability. Understand how design specs fit into process control, process capability, and SPC and where they typically don't fit at all. We talk about things to think about when setting limits on design features. And, when defining controls for potential failures, knowing how processes are controlled can help us decide if the controls we have are good enough or not. Wa...
Internal Customers vs. External Customers
March 09, 2022 20:00 - 11 minutes - 7.62 MBSend us a Text Message. We talk about customers of design information. It takes many people to realize a product design into something that can be sold and used. Those people need design information to ensure that they're performing their tasks to produce a high-quality product, and to be able to use our product appropriately. We review who our customers are and what type of information they need from design engineers. Visit the blog for additional graphics, transcripts, and videos. Gi...