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')
The lesson
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.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
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.