From John tullamarine:
The applicant (ie the organisation applying for the STC) needs to show compliance with the Design Standards so the effort lies with the applicant rather than the regulator. The regulator's task is to ensure such compliance to minimise the risk of dodgy things getting into the mainstream .. experimental category is for doing one's own thing.
Who develops the design standards? For instance, having been through the Patent process, I found, surprisingly, it is not necessary for the patented device to function....it is only required that it be different from prior patented devices!
If found of no value, ( by anyone, or FAA) could the regulator prevent its installation?