Designing products
Design purposeful products for yourself and other users: say who a product is for and what it must do, gather ideas from looking and asking, set simple design criteria, and describe or draw a design that meets them
What a learner can do afterwards
- State who a design is for and what it needs to do before making it (e.g. 'a boat for my teddy, so it has to float')
- Set simple criteria and check a design against them (e.g. 'the card had to stand up on its own')
- Draw or describe a design idea clearly enough for someone else to picture it
1 · Read
Before you make something, decide who it is for and what it must do. Knowing who will use it helps you plan for their needs.
Mia plans a boat for Teddy. It must float with Teddy on board. This rule is a design criterion. Two or more rules are called design criteria.
Look at things people use. Ask what they need and what is hard to use. Their answers can help you choose useful parts for your design.
Draw your idea or describe it with words. Say what it looks like, what parts it has, and what the parts do. These details help a friend picture your idea.
Check your idea against each rule. Mia checks whether her planned boat has room for Teddy. After making it, she tests whether it floats with Teddy aboard. It meets a rule when it does what that rule asks.
Say who it is for and what it must do. Draw or describe your idea, then check its rules.
Lesson and assessment material written for this dataset.
Readings and flashcards written for this dataset.
More to read
Ask before you plan
Lena wants to make a box for her sister's crayons. She asks her sister what she needs. Her sister wants to see the colours without tipping them out.
Lena draws a low box with spaces for the crayons. Asking first helped her choose what the box must do.
Check both rules
Omar plans a crown for a toy rabbit. It must fit the rabbit's head and stay on when the rabbit sits up.
After making it, Omar checks each rule. The crown fits, but it falls off. Meeting one rule does not mean it meets both. Omar can change the crown and check again.
Tell a friend about the parts
Nia plans a tray for toy cars. She says, 'It will be flat, with a low edge around it. The edge will help keep the cars on the tray.'
Nia has described the shape, a part and that part's job. She can draw those details too. Her friend now has enough detail to picture her idea.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Optional connections
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.