LightMySky

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

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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

The lesson

Before you make something, stop and think first. Decide who it is for. Decide what it must do.

Try it together

Mia is making a boat for her teddy. Teddy cannot swim, so the boat must float. Mia thinks of this before she starts.

Good to know

Look closely at things around you. Ask people what they need. Good ideas come from looking and asking.

ThinkAskDrawCheck
Follow these four steps before you start making.

Know who it's for, know what it must do, then draw it.

Watch it

Where it sits

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

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.

Designing Products · Design & Technology, ages 5 to 8 · LightMySky