Design Briefs and Better Products
Investigate and analyse existing products: work out who a product is for, what it does well and badly, how it works and what it is made from; use the analysis to write a design brief and criteria for a better version
What a learner can do afterwards
- Take a product (e.g. a lunchbox or a torch) and explain who it is for, how it works and what it is made from
- Point out strengths and weaknesses of a product against its purpose (e.g. 'the zip is fiddly for small hands')
- Turn findings into a brief and criteria for an improved design (e.g. 'must open one-handed')
1 · Read
Before you design something new, look closely at something that already exists. Investigate it: find out who it is for, how it works, and what it is made from.
Look at a torch. It is for campers who need light at night. Inside, a battery pushes electricity through a bulb or LED to make light. The case is hard plastic, so it survives being dropped, and the lens is clear plastic.
Now look for strengths and weaknesses. A lunchbox keeps food fresh and is easy to carry, so those are strengths. But if the zip is fiddly for small hands, that is a weakness, because it makes the lunchbox harder to use.
When you write your criteria, be specific enough that someone could check them. 'Must open one-handed' can be tested. 'Should look nice' cannot.
Investigate a product, weigh its strengths against its weaknesses, then turn what you found into a brief with clear, testable criteria.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
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.