DESIGN DOCUMENT EXAMPLES
The purpose of this web page is to provide you with detailed explanations of what is expected in each section of the design document. Please see our specifications web page for pointers to more resources related to the design document.

Executive Summary	Problem	Design Requirements
Approach	Evaluation	Summary
Acknowledgements	References	Appendix

Executive Summary (Length: Exactly One Page)

This is perhaps the single-most important page in your design document. It is exactly one page in length and consists of four parts:

• Problem Statement: This paragraph should summarize the Problem section of your document. It should be relatively high-level and provide a good motivation for your project (NOT your approach). See 42V Conversion, GPS Tracking, and HILFD-1400 for specific examples.
  
  
• Approach and Constraints: This paragraph summarizes the technical aspects of the design. It should include an overview of your design and how this relates to the desired functionality of the system. I discourage the use of chip names in describing your approach, and encourage keeping it general (e.g., We designed a Class AB Darlington pair amplifier to achieve an 80 dB SNR.). This paragraph should summarize the key design requirements and clearly describe the technical challenges of this project using quanitative measures (e.g., Producing an amplifier that delivers 500 Watts of power and an 80 dB signal to noise ratio in a package that fits in the palm of your hand represents unprecedented levels of power density and performance. See Audio Impedance Meter, SECON'2003, and HILFD-1400 for specific examples.
  
  
• Results: This paragraph should summarize the results of your project. It often includes a brief description of key functionality, confirming that the device meets the design requirements. It also describes evaluation of your design, and discusses the design changes necessary to make the project work. See Key Chain Locator, SECON'2003, and Power Factor Correction for specific examples. Note that senior design executive summaries are notoriously weak on this section. This is primarly due to the fact that teams run out of time at the end of the semester. The last half of the second semester should be devoted to extensive testing.
  
  
• Impact: The last paragraph focuses on the impact of what you have accomplished. What markets will be enabled? Did you meet your design goals? Were new uses discovered for your project in the process? Why should I care about what you have accomplished? (One team once said at the end of SD II that they learned they did not want to be in the business of building their product because they couldn't make money. See: HILFD-1400, Key Chain Locator, and SECON'2003 for specific examples.

If these examples are not adequate, here are a couple of examples (Deceit, Access) of summaries I have written for research proposals. Hopefully these will give you more perspective on what consistutes a well-written executive summary.

1. Problem (Minimum Length: Two Pages)

In this section, you will define the problem you are addressing, explain its significance, and discuss the impact of your solution (not how you are going to solve the problem, but what will happen if you solve the problem). Start with a general overview, background, etc., and then get progressively more detailed. This section generally consists of four parts:

• Historical Introduction: includes a general overview of the technical area you are researching, as well as the societal context impacting this project. For example, many new products and business opportunities have resulted from significant legislation such as the American Disabilities Act of 1990. A project in this area that was impacted by this legislation should spend time discussing this. See SECON'2003, Water Detector, and Wireless Sensor for specific examples.
  
  
• Market and Competitive Product Analysis: includes a market analysis (e.g., size, revenues, price) and competitive product analysis (e.g., what other products like yours exist, how is your product different?). See HILFD-1400, Temperatur Sensor, and Duck Decoy for specific examples.
  
  
• Concise Problem Statement: a one or two-sentence description of the fundamental problem you are attempting to solve that will enable the market you have previously identified. This is followed by a technical formulation of the problem (e.g., must compress a feature-length movie into one 4 Gbyte DVD). See 42V Conversion, Home Automation, and Smart Light for specific examples.
  
  
• Implications of Your Success: a description of how this product will be used if you are successful, how much of the market you might capture for a certain level of performance, etc. For example, if you build an audio amplifier for $100 that outputs 500W, how much of the market for audio amplifiers would you expect to capture? See Tire Pressure, Data Glove, and GPS Tracking for specific examples.

The problem statement, as with all sections of the document (except the summary section), should have inline citations (e.g., "Previous approaches resulted in systems whose power consumption was excessive [23]."). Your problem statement is building upon a vast body of engineering knowledge - most of which you have drawn from other resources which must be cited. For a detailed explanation of citations, including an excellent discussion of why they are necessary, see plagiarism.

2. Design Requirements (Minimum Length: Three Pages)

The Design Requirements section is perhaps the most important section in the design document because it defines the quantitative constraints for your design. Everything we do in senior design is centered around these constraints. A quantitative constraint is one that is stated in terms of a number that can be measured by performing some laboratory test. The Evaluation section of your document will describe the tests used to measure the quantities listed in your design requirements section.

The format for this section is as follows:

• Introductory paragraph that provides continuity and flow to the document.
  
  
• Section 2.1: Technical Design Constraints
  
  Each team must have five technical design constraints that adequately constrain the circuit and software design of the system. Technical design constraints typically relate to the performance of the system. See the design document template for specific guidelines on formatting. List your five technical design constraints using the table below:
  
  

  Name	Description
  Signal to Noise Ratio	We will achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of 30 dB or greater, and demonstrate that this exceeds performance of existing technology.
  Communications Protocol	We will use an RS-232C interface for communications between the module and the base station.
  Accuracy	This system.s incorrect classification rate will not exceed 3.5% on data whose SNR exceeds 15 dB.
  Robustness	The imposter acceptance rate will not exceed 3% on data whose SNR exceeds 10 dB.
  Transmission Distance	Our base station will communicate with the server at a maximum distance of 100 feet with a bit error rate not to exceed 1e-05.

  
  You will follow this table with four to five paragraphs explaining these design constraints. Typically these are explained in groups since design constraints are often interrelated. Use constraints that relate to well-known standards (such as UL or FCC specs), and be sure to explain these specifications. Design constraints must be quantitative and must be testable. The section on evaluation will describe the tests you use to verify your design constraints.
  
  
• Section 2.2: Practical Design Constraints
  
  In the ABET handbook on accrediting engineering programs, it states:
  
  
  Students must be prepared for engineering practice through the curriculum culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work and incorporating engineering standards and realistic constraints that include most of the following considerations: economic; environmental; sustainability; manufacturability; ethical; health and safety; social; and political.
  
  List five practical design constraints using the table below:
  
  

  Type	Name	Description
  Economic	Cost	The expected retail for this price is $100 based on a parts cost of $25.
  Environmental	Power	The main processor unit will dissipate no more than 3 Watts.
  Sustainability	Reliability	This system will be designed to operate over a five year period without failure. The expected battery life is seven years and is the only part requiring regular maintenance.
  Manufacturability	Size	The physical dimensions will be 3" high, 4" wide, and 6" deep.
  Health and Safety	Safety	We will conform to UL Specification 631 which requires that this unit not deliver an electrical shock to the user under ..., and UL Specification 837 which requires a ...

  
  Every project need not address all of the factors specified by ABET. However, all projects must have five design constraints that relate to these issues. After you provide these constraints, some explanation will be required, as in Section 2.1.
  
  Three good examples of a design requirements section are found in these past senior design projects:
  
  
  1. Good quantitative constraints: F. Castillo, J. Ford, and J. Pvillalta, "MFJ 25X: Standing Wave Ratio Analyzer," ECE 4512: Design I, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University, Fall 2003 (available at: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/classes/design/ece4512/2003_fall/swr_analyzer/).
     
     
  2. Good explanations: T. Butler, K. Lancaster, M. Middleton, and K. Walp, " Water Detector," ECE 4512: Design I, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University, Fall 2003 (available at: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/classes/design/ece4512/2003_fall/wireless_sensor/deliverables/design5.pdf).
     
     
  3. Good integration: M. Baker, J. Boettcher, K. Bradley, P. Conley, J. Rucker, and J. Wilson, "SECON," ECE 4522: Design II, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University, Spring 2003 (available at http://www.ece.msstate.edu/classes/ece4522/research/isip/projects/2003_spring/secon/docs/design.pdf).

Note that the last document does not completely conform to our current formatting specifications because it was generated under a different document formatting requirement.

3. Approach

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Evaluation

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Summary

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Acknowledgements

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References

References follow an IEEE-style format. A comprehensive guide for references can be found here.

Appendix

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Questions or comments about the material presented here can be directed to ies_help@cavs.msstate.edu.