Prototyping and Testing Flashcards
6 cards from real 3D Product practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Prototyping and Testing flashcards as text
What is a 'foam core model' used for in industrial product design?
Answer: A quick, inexpensive 3D form study to evaluate proportions, scale, and ergonomics before committing to CAD
Foam core models (made from blue or pink urethane foam) allow rapid 3D form exploration at full scale, giving designers a physical sense of proportion and ergonomics.
What is 'DFT' (Design Freeze) in a hardware product development timeline?
Answer: The milestone when the product design is locked and no further changes are made before tooling investment
Design freeze is the formal milestone at which the product design is approved and locked — any changes after this point incur significant time and cost penalties on tooling.
What is 'heuristic evaluation' in product usability testing?
Answer: Expert reviewers assess a product's interface against established usability principles without end users
Heuristic evaluation has 3–5 UX experts inspect a product interface against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics, rapidly identifying usability problems without recruiting end users.
What is 'FMEA' (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) and when is it used in product development?
Answer: A structured analysis that identifies potential failure modes, their causes, and effects to prioritize risk mitigation before production
FMEA systematically catalogs every way a product can fail, rates each by severity, occurrence, and detectability, and drives design and process improvements to reduce risk.
What is a 'T1 sample' in the injection molding process?
Answer: The first parts produced from a new production mold, used to evaluate dimensional accuracy and surface quality
T1 (Tool Trial 1) samples are the first shots from a new injection mold — evaluated against drawings to identify required mold modifications before production approval.
What is 'A-surface' and 'B-surface' in product design terminology?
Answer: A-surface is the customer-visible, cosmetically critical exterior; B-surface is the interior, hidden functional side
A-surface receives full cosmetic finishing and is held to tight appearance standards; B-surface is unseen and only needs to meet functional and structural requirements.