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2025

 
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VCE Art and Design

Product Design and Technologies Unit 3: Ethical product design and development

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this unit but previous experience in Design and Technologies Units 1 and 2, or related Art and Design subjects is advised.

Course Description

In this unit students research a real personal, local or global need or opportunity with explicit links to ethical considerations. They conduct research to generate product concepts and a final proof of concept for a product solution that addresses the need(s) or opportunities of the end user(s).

Product designers respond to current and future social, economic, environmental or other ethical considerations. This unit focuses on the analysis of available materials in relation to sustainable practices, tensions between manufacturing and production, modern industrial and commercial practices, and the lifecycles of products from sustainability or worldview perspectives.

Students plan to develop an ethical product through a problem-based design approach, starting with a need or opportunity and using a design process and testing to problem-solve. The design brief, product concepts and the final proof of concept are developed through the Double Diamond design approach, using design thinking. Students undertake the role of a designer to generate, analyse and critique product concepts, with the chosen product concept becoming the final proof of concept. Throughout a design process, the product concepts and the final proof of concept are evaluated using relevant factors that influence product design, and shaped using design thinking. Students learn about ethical research methods when investigating and defining their design need and/or opportunity.

Areas of Study

Area of Study 1 - Influences on design, development and production of products

Students examine a range of factors that influence the design, development and production of products within industrial settings. Students research and investigate designs across a range of specialisations that include historical iconic designs that have stood the test of time; designs with inbuilt obsolescence; products that are fast to the market; products that are designed to last its lifetime; products that have a second life through disassembly and reuse and/or designs in and with nature. They consider influences on product design when addressing ethical considerations for end users.

Area of Study 2 - Investigating opportunities for ethical design and production

students use design thinking to formulate a design brief that addresses a need or opportunity related to ethical product design, and conduct research to explore current market needs and/or opportunities. Students generate, evaluate and critique graphical product concepts (visualisations, design options and working drawings) related to ethical product design.

Area of Study 3 - Developing a final proof of concept for ethical production

students explore the physicality of product concepts through developing prototypes to select and justify the chosen product concept and a final proof of concept. Students develop a scheduled production plan to manage the resources in a design process and implement this scheduled production plan to make their product safely.

Assessment

Outcome Marks Assessment Tasks

Outcome 1 SAC

Critique examples of ethical product design and innovation within industrial settings.		 50

Any one or a combination of:

  • case study analysis
  • oral presentation using multimedia: face-to-face or recorded as a video or podcast
  • research inquiry.

Outcome 2 SAT

On completion of this unit the student should be able to investigate a need or opportunity that relates to ethics and formulate a design brief, conduct research to analyse current market needs or opportunities and propose, evaluate, and critique graphical product concepts.		  

Multimodal record of evidence that records:

  • formulation of a design brief and gathering evidence of research that explores market needs or opportunities
  • generation, design, and evaluation of product concepts
  • justification of final proof of concept 
  • scheduled production plan, including progress during the production process and decisions and modifications made to the scheduled production plan.

Outcome 3 SAT

On completion of this unit the student should be able to evaluate product concepts related to ethical design, synthesise, and apply feedback to justify a final proof of concept and plan to make the product safely.

  

Practical work that demonstrates:

  • use of technologies to develop physical product concepts including prototypes and finished product
  • management of time and other resources.

School-assessed Coursework for Unit 3 will contribute 10 per cent to the study score.

For this assessment teachers will provide to the VCAA a score representing an assessment of the student’s level of performance in achieving Outcomes 2 and 3 in Unit 3 and Outcome 1 in Unit 4 according to criteria published by the VCAA.