476   Figure 2.  RUAG Applied Design Thinking Flow  

From the five principles listed above often only the first four  can be used in classical space product  development. The reason is that in most cases a one- off product is being developed with fixed customer  requirements. These boundary conditions do  not allow the implementation of the lessons learned from  testing , but with the Future Actuator breadboard model the test results can be implemented in the follow - on qualification model. The following is a short description of what is understood by the five principles.    The first point aims at the clear understanding of the requirements , which is often a key for the success of  the project. If no specific requirements are available (like for the Future Actuator) the definition of a set of  generic requirements is the  first task. The requirements definition is then a combination of market research,  customer wishes and technical capabilities. Out of them , the first set of requirements can be derived.    The second point aims at concept elaboration. Here an open mindset is required and this is the moment where unconventional solutions have to be addressed. At RUAG often brainstorming sessions in the  Concurrent Engineering (CE)  facility (see Figure 3) are used for this.    The third design thinking principle concerns the concept refinement.  Also here the internal CE facility is  used for the design and concept review sessions. Preferably they are held in various small steps where  different design aspects are optimized instead of one big design review. It is recommended to stay long in  the concept phase and to avoid going too  early into the detail s and detailed models. This provides large  flexibility , inclusion of innovative aspects and enables late changes with minimum impact.    The fourth principle is focusing on test s. The need for test s is always a trade -off between risks and  programmatic constraints. However, it turned out to be very  valuable  to test certain aspects  early . The  problem is that often simple tests get overloaded with other constraints and “ nice to have things ” which then  make the tests expensive and long. Therefore, it is very important to focus on the initial goals and to keep  tests as simple  as possible. In addition,  it is important n ot to block flexibility during testing with too stringent  procedures and plans . During the Future Actuator test  campaign,  tests were added and removed during  the program as needed which proved very h elpful .  

The fifth point aims at the optimization and preparation for series -production readiness of the product based  on available  test results and updated customer requirements. F or the Future Actuator , these  improvement   activities  are currently ongoing. Based on the test results the customer revises  his requirements and RUAG  consolidated the concept  accordingly .  

Requirements    Solutions    Concept Refinement    Test   Improve ment   Customer, Market,  Experts   Experts, C oncurrent  Engineering (CE)   Technology,  Experts, CE  Risks, Needs    Test Results,  Market, Customer   Phase 1 (without customer)   Phase 3   (with customer)   Phase 2  (with out customer)