# 3.3 Summary of Section 3

In Section 3 you came across the concept of a design driver, which was defined as follows:

## Box 3 Design driver

Design driver – a factor that motivates the design process, for example:

- to meet a need
- to solve a problem
- to fulfil a desire/demand
- to improve something
- to respond to change
- or ‘just because’.

There can be other drivers but these are common to many projects and will serve as a definition for this course.

When you read this section you may have found it difficult to isolate some drivers or to think of examples specific to a single driver. For example, when does a ‘need’ become a ‘problem’ (or a problem become a need)?

In reality, most designs have multiple drivers and motivations behind them. These drivers can also change during the design project and even during the lifetime of that design. But most design projects have a primary driver that is the main reason for the project in the first place, and this primary driver almost always involves people.

OpenLearn - An introduction to design engineering
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