Gain insights into working effectively with cross-functional teams, collecting invaluable design inputs without succumbing to the overwhelming flow of information. We'll discuss the magic behind the 'concept space', an efficient approach to dissect potential customer experiences, streamlining concept development at the start. What about after that high-level concept development, when we begin our engineering design? Early engineering diagrams can prove instrumental in evaluating...

As a product designer, you need design inputs. Many of us have communication problems with our cross-functional teams about product ideas which then morph into product development problems later. In this episode, we unravel the importance of communication and self-advocacy in the realm of product design. In our chat, we share how to take the lead in working meetings with cross-functional teams to get design inputs. Learn the art of preparation, involvement, maintaining an open mind, and...

Dianna Deeney interviews Kevin Bailey, from Design 1st, about supply chain management during design: how product design engineers and product development leadership can be affected by and affect the supply chain for their products. This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts". Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the...

Ever wished you could ace the art of product design using quality frameworks? Your wish is just about to come true! We unravel the ADEPT framework, your magic wand for creating products that are not just satisfactory,  but loved by users. We'll also be discussing how to lead a team effectively, conduct hands-on meetings, and choose the right participants. These handy tips will enable you to develop top-notch products using cross-functional collaboration. We're also unveiling how quality...

Ready to sharpen your toolset with the wisdom of ancient warriors? Today's episode includes knowledge to guide your journey into the world of quality tools and reliability frameworks. Drawing inspiration from the seven weapons of warrior monk Benkei, we introduce the first seven quality tools collected by industry quality professional, Ishikawa. Discover how these types of tools, more typically used for monitoring and continuous improvement, can also be leveraged for early concept...

Are you prepared to untap the potential of cross-functional collaboration in product design? On this episode of Quality during Design, we pull back the curtains on the dynamics of cross-functional teams in product design. Dianna Deeney, your host and seasoned quality professional, shares her insights on navigating the complex world of cross-functional teams, addressing common misconceptions, and maximizing brainstorming through structure. We’re about to take a deep dive into the power of...

Ever wonder why many product designs fail or why projects don't always come out as planned? The answer might lie in how we approach the 'problem space' versus the 'solution space'. We're celebrating two and a half years of Quality During Design podcast by revisiting the fundamental principles that guide our product design processes, and exploring how we can apply these principles to avoid common pitfalls. We talk about the importance of staying longer in the problem space, using quality tools...

Ever wondered how the world of product development can be viewed through the lens of a physicist? How the future of AI will impact our existence? What a champion poker player has to say about quitting, and what we can learn about product development from an architect? This week, we dive headfirst into those questions with four fascinating reads: 'Loonshots' by Safi Bahcall,  'AI 2041' by Kai Fu Lee and Chen Quifan, 'Quit' by Annie Duke, and 'How Big Things Get Done' by Bent Flyvbjerg and...

Ever felt overwhelmed with the mountain of data during the design process? Wondered how best to prioritize tasks to meet user needs? I'm Dianna Deeney, and this episode of the Quality During Design Podcast promises to guide you through the chaos. We delve deep into the concept of an urgent/important matrix, a simple two-way matrix that can help you align your design priorities based on the user. We get practical, applying this matrix to a real-world scenario - designing a bicycle stand. As...

Dianna Deeney interviews Scott Abel about why members of the technical documentation team should be brought into product design process earlier rather than later. And to encourage product design teams to incorporate the insights available from technical documentation professionals into their design decisions. This episode is Part 2 of our interview. Part 1 (published earlier) was a discussion involving information development management. This Part 2 focuses on technical communication in...

Dianna Deeney interviews Scott Abel about information development management, a discipline concerned with best practices for managing and coordinating all activities related to the development, production, and distribution of information. He shares ideas, strategies, and best practices for unifying all product information - technical documentation, product specifications, customer support, training, and on-boarding - in a single online knowledge center. This is Part 1 of 2 episodes with...

Ready to hone your technical writing skills as an engineer? This episode of the Quality During Design podcast is a must-listen! We delve into the critical role of technical communication in engineering, and why written communication skills are non-negotiable for engineers. Join me, Dianna Deeney, as we consider different perspectives to make your technical writing the best it can be. Our chat takes us on a journey through the past, present, and future of technical writing, as we root...

Who wouldn't want a treasure trove of product knowledge right at their fingertips? We explore FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis) and unlock its potential for complaint investigation. Harness the power of FMEA - not just a tool, but a wellspring of team knowledge about your product. But we're not finished there - we're turning FMEA data into actionable knowledge. We delve into the use of FMEA for field failure investigation and innovation. We'll dissect the various components of FMEA,...

Are you ready to elevate your understanding of reliability during design to the next level? This episode is an absolute must-listen! I'm your host, Dianna Deeney, and I'll help you dissect the world of reliability life testing in design. We'll explore how the integration of critical reliability data into the decision-making process can revolutionize your design approach. Ever felt confused by accelerated stress testing? You're not alone. This episode will give you an in-depth understanding...

When you design a product, you consider the field reliability. Use environment usually comes to mind first. Do you also consider the stresses it undergoes from its creation to the end user's hands?  We talk about designing for reliability, accounting for not just the product's use but also its journey from production to the consumer. As a part of our in-depth discussion, we'll look into the role of various environments - field and production - in affecting a product's reliability. By the...

We're continuing to explore topics about reliability engineering during design. ==== 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...

Dianna Deeney interviews Adam Bahret about reliability engineering during design: how product design engineers and product development leadership can incorporate reliability engineering. This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts". Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. We discuss their viewpoints and perspectives regarding new products, the values they bring to new product development,...

Part of Quality during Design is using reliability engineering as part of the design process. We're warming up to the topic this week with a QDD Redux episode - pulling an episode from our archive from last year that's a good overview of some things we'll be getting more into. Next week, I'm interviewing a Reliability Engineer as part of the series A Chat with Cross-Functional Experts.  You won't want to miss it! So, let's stretch and warm-up to Reliability during Design!...

We do projects all the time. Some projects are about developing new things, and others are about improving what we have – continuous improvement.  In the quality realm, there's what they call the instant glory model. This same kind of thing can happen in product design, too. We talk about what quality folks call an instant glory, and what to do about it in product design engineering.  Visit the podcast blog for extra links. Support the show**FREE RESOURCES** Quality during Design engineering...

Virtual meetings are here to stay. What does this mean when product design engineers are trying to get design inputs from the cross-functional team? It means we need to adapt and to show that we're consistent and that we can be trusted to facilitate the meeting within time and with goals achieved. Visit the podcast blog. Support the show**FREE RESOURCES** Quality during Design engineering and new product development is actionable. It's also a mindset. Subscribe for consistency,...

We've been talking about how to best work with our cross-functional team at early concept development - to use quality and reliability tools in working meetings to really understand the concept space as a way to design for how the customer may experience our new concept idea. Coming out of our talks make be questions about unknowns or misalignments. We may need to meet our customers where they're at to get clarity. When engineers say, "I'd like to talk with a customer about this," we...

Dianna Deeney interviews Sol Rosenbaum about engineering with receptivity: how an openness toward others for new impressions and different ideas can lead to a successful engineering career. This interview is part of our series, “A Chat with Cross Functional Experts". Our focus is speaking with people that are typically part of a cross-functional team within engineering projects. About Sol Sol Rosenbaum graduated with a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and is currently the Owner &...

A goal without a plan is just a wish. We take these wishes... "I wish I had the cross functional input that I need for design inputs." "I wish I could work with my cross functional team." "I wish my team would accept my design idea." ...and we add a plan to make them a GOAL. We plan for what it is we want and how we're going to get there using Quality during Design. Join the waitlist for the Quality during Design Journey for a special offer. Support the show**FREE RESOURCES** Quality...

We're given information about an opportunity for a new product.  We talk about what can happen when we start solution-building just with what we're given. And we talk about an alternative start to a new engineering project. Support the showAbout me Dianna Deeney helps engineers work with their cross-functional team to reduce concept design time and increase product success, using quality and reliability methods. She founded Quality during Design through her company Deeney Enterprises, LLC....

In this special episode of Quality during Design Redux, we're pulling episodes from our archive about test results analysis. In our Season 1 - Episode 93  titled "The Fundamental Thing to Know from Statistics for Design Engineering", we talked about hypothesis testing: how it is used for lots of data analysis techniques. The next 4 episodes of this QDD Redux are taking the next steps. _________________________________________ When we’re looking at results (like measures of a...