Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mrs. Dami.

Thank you for joining me for your design and technology lesson today.

Now the big question for today is how can we use research to inform our design requirements? And we're going to explore a full range of different ways that we can research and I think you might be excited by quite a few of them.

We're first of all though, going to start off by defining our own design brief to shape our research.

Hard hats on, let's get cracking.

Our outcome for today is we will be able to analyze research to inform design requirements.

We have a few ground rules for today.

So first of all, we need to be able to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond when disagreeing, challenge the statement, not the person.

We always need to respect privacy.

We can discuss examples, but do not use names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves.

There is no judgment today, we can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged.

And lastly, you can choose your level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join in a particular discussion.

We should never put anyone on the spot.

We have five key words today.

Design brief, which outlines the design opportunity and identifies a primary user's needs and wants, design requirements, which is something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful.

Inspiration is someone or something that gives you ideas.

Research technique is a method for finding out design requirements.

And lastly, design fixation, which is when we consider only one possible solution.

And we're gonna try and move away from design fixation in this unit.

Feel free to come back to this slide at any point.

We have two learning cycles for our lesson today.

Design brief and design requirements, and then using research to inspire.

So let's get cracking with design brief and design requirements.

The theme of this unit, let's remind ourselves is inclusive design, and we're particularly focusing on mental health and wellbeing.

Please keep that at the forefront of your mind throughout this lesson.

Now a design brief is one of our key words today.

A design brief is a short statement outlining the design opportunity and identifies a primary user's needs and wants.

This includes identified stressors, barriers and personas.

A design brief provides focus for researching and designing along this unit.

And your design brief will be unique to you.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't match the person sat next to you.

Let's remind ourselves, what do we already know? Well we know Alex, Alex is a 16-year-old secondary school student.

He's currently preparing for his GCSE exams. He lives at home with family and spends most evenings revising.

Now, the stressor, Alex's stressor is the fact that he has exams and a large workload.

I wonder if you can relate to that.

Now, his barrier is stress and anxiety.

He's finding this quite difficult.

And both the stressor and barrier leads to an impact of increased feelings of pressure.

And I know lots of students within my own school who feel like this too around exams. You're not alone if that is you.

So a design opportunity, the design opportunity for Alex is to either design something to help him relax or something to organize his tasks.

I wonder who you identified and what stressor and barriers and impacts you also identified.

Izzy uses her initial research all about Alex to write design brief for her design opportunity.

So she goes design a product that counts down from 20 minutes to zero with a beep every five minutes.

It should be 220 millimeters long and be made with fluffy, soft material.

The solution must have a light too.

What has Izzy got right and what has she missed? Pause the video, reread what Izzy has said and see if you can identify what she's got right and what she's missed.

And then we'll go through that on our next slide together.

Hopefully you've had a couple of minutes to read back through Izzy's design brief and notice what is good or what perhaps could be changed.

So a design brief must be relevant to the context and it is because it's talking about a product that perhaps times revision.

It must identify a primary user and their initial needs and wants.

Can't see any of that in Izzy design brief.

It must provide an opportunity to design a creative and innovative design solution.

Well yes, this sounds like quite an interesting timer that Izzy is thinking of.

A design brief must be non-specific as this can lead to design fixation.

And this is where I think Izzy has got it wrong.

She's got an idea in her head, but she's completely fixated on it so much so she wants it made with fluffy soft material.

She wants it 220 millimeters long.

It's very fixated.

It's very, very specific and it doesn't allow lots and lots of design ideas to be produced from it.

It must be informed by initial investigations and research.

Can't see any of that in Izzy's design brief and it must identify where it could be used.

And again, I can't see that in Izzy's design brief.

Izzy takes that feedback on board and she has another go at writing a design brief for her design opportunity.

Let's take a read.

"Design an innovative solution to enable teenagers to calmly approach exam revision at school or home so that they do not feel overwhelmed and are able to focus on the revision productively.

What do you think? Pause the video.

Do you think Izzy's second attempt is better, worse or similar? Come back to me when you've got an idea.

Hopefully you thought that this second attempt is much better and why is that? Well, first of all, it removes the final design idea to keep it non-specific and avoid design fixation.

So it's no longer saying it has to be a timer, it has to be fluffy, it has to be a certain measurement.

Instead, it's keeping it open so you can produce lots of ideas and you might be surprised at what you produce.

It also identifies a primary user, in this case is teenagers such as Alex.

It identifies needs and wants identified in terms of stressors and barriers.

So it's so that teenagers do not feel overwhelmed and helps them to focus on the revision productively.

And lastly, it identifies where it is to be used.

Is Izzy said, it could be used at school or home.

Again, that keeps it open.

Well done Izzy.

Time for a quick check-in.

How can you avoid design fixation when writing a design brief? A, conduct lots of research, B, be non-specific.

C, be specific or D, conduct minimal research.

Have a think, pause the video, come back to me when you've made your decision.

Well done If you got B.

To avoid design fixation when writing a design brief, you need to be non-specific.

Once you have defined your design brief, you'll be able to use your design brief to identify what you need to initially find out.

Let's take a little look back at Izzy's.

First of all, she could explore existing products.

Are there solutions out there already that attempt to solve a similar problem? Izzy could do some research into calming colors because she wants her product or her solution to calm teenagers.

She might look at options for materials that appeal to senses to stop her primary users feeling overwhelmed.

And she might look at methods to make the products portable so that perhaps the product could be taken from home into school and back home again.

This is a great start for thinking about what you need to research.

As you research your design brief in more detail, you will identify and record potential design requirements.

Now, design requirements are one of our key words today.

What does it mean? Well, a design requirement is a statement that identifies what a product or solution can do to be successful and meet the needs and wants of the primary user and stakeholders.

Let's remind ourselves stakeholders are a person, group or organization with an interest in the project.

Now let's relate it to this unit.

A stakeholder might be someone such as a teacher or perhaps an educational psychologist, somebody who would be interested in this project but might not be the main person who uses it.

I've put include a justification when stating your design requirements.

So include that why, why is that statement important? Andeep does some research into his own design brief, and this is what he says.

I found out that my primary user often gets sweaty hands when they are feeling anxious and finding revision or work overwhelming.

I wonder if some of you can relate to that perhaps when you're about to go into an exam or something, or perhaps when you're trying to cram revise just before.

I think lots of us do relate to that.

So how could Andeep's research be turned into a design requirement? Pause the video, have a think and we'll look at some solutions and some answers together on the next slide.

Hopefully you took a little look at Andeep's research and turned that into a few design requirements.

Let's see what Andeep came up with.

He focused in on the words sweaty hands, and he said a design requirement could be, the product could include grip so it is easier to use with sweaty, slippy hands, when your hands are wet, it's much more difficult to hold onto things.

He then focused into the word anxious and he said the product should be able to withstand being dropped on the floor multiple times as the user is more likely to drop things when feeling anxious with sweaty hands.

I think lots of us can relate to that.

I've put in this box, notice how the design requirements provide a justification but do not describe a specific solution.

Therefore, this avoids design fixation in the design requirements too, well done Andeep.

Time for a quick check-in.

Design requirements should be A, specific for what a solution needs to do to be successful.

B, not describe a specific solution.

C, describe a specific solution or D, be short without justification.

Have a think, pause the video, come back to me when you've made your decision.

Well done, if you identified A and B, design requirements should be specific for what the actual solution needs to do to be successful, but at the same time, it must not describe a specific solution like that fluffy, soft material one that Izzy was on about earlier.

Onto task A, part one, I'd like you to identify the features required in a design brief.

Part two A, write a focused persona and identify their stressor and barriers and the impact of these.

B, define a design brief that you would like to research.

And lastly, part three, define the term design requirement.

Good luck, pause the video, come back to me when you've had a good crack at this.

part one, I asked you to identify the features required in a design brief.

You might have said a design brief is a short statement outlining the design opportunity and identifies a primary user.

Part 2A, I asked you to write a focus persona and identify their stressor and barriers and the impact of these.

And then I asked you to define a design brief that you would like to research.

So let's take a little look at Lucas, Aisha and Jacob.

Lucas is a 16-year-old secondary school student who finds it hard to put down his phone.

The stressor is the constant use of social media.

The barrier is comparing his self to others and impact is the negative body image and stress related to that.

So a design brief, it could be to design an innovative solution that motivates secondary school students to reduce social media use both inside and outside of school in order to decrease self comparison and increase positive wellbeing.

Aisha is a 15-year-old secondary school student who worries so much about exams that she finds it hard to sleep.

The stressor is lack of sleep, the barrier is tiredness makes it harder to concentrate and the impact is a low and irritable mood.

So a design brief for Aisha could be to design an innovative solution that enables students to switch off in an evening at home, to relax and to be able to have a peaceful sleep in order to be focused the next day.

Lastly, we have Jacob.

Jacob is a 14-year-old secondary school student who has just fallen out with his friendship group and is struggling with coming into school.

The stressor is the friendship conflict.

The barrier is avoiding social situations to reduce tension and the impact is feeling isolated with a low mood.

So a design brief could be to design an innovative solution that provides a safe space for students struggling with friendship issues to regain confidence and not feel isolated.

And lastly, part three, I asked you to define the term design requirement.

You might have said, a design requirement is a statement that identifies and justifies what a product or solution can do to be successful and meet the needs and wants of the primary user or stakeholders or and stakeholders rather.

Well done with all of your hard work.

Onto learning cycle two, using research to inspire.

We are going to explore a few research techniques for researching into your design brief.

You are not limited to the research techniques that we share.

Some will be right for your design brief and others will not.

And that might be similar to the person sat next to you.

You may wish to revisit your design brief to adapt or keep focused.

Remember, take lots of photos and videos and record the information that you collect.

Now throughout researching, you may identify a design requirement at any point, what you need to do is remember to record it.

Otherwise you may forget it.

You could record them as statements or perhaps in a chart, that is down to you.

A great starting point is to look at existing products or solutions.

Now you could do that by testing some products yourself, or you could do that by using an internet search or perhaps popping down to a local shop.

So for example, you might look at a product range.

Here's a whole range of fidget tools here that I managed to find in my son's drawer.

Shh, don't tell him.

Anyway, you might like to look at a whole product range.

You might also find some products that perhaps you didn't think of before.

So here's a wobble cushion.

This is from my son's classroom.

I didn't actually know that these existed and what a great idea they are.

Now you might want to test something, actually try it out yourself if you've never come across something if you can.

And then there's weighted jumpers.

These are designed to provide that weight to feel a little bit like a hug.

And we'll go a bit more into detail about some of these later on in our slides.

So why is it a good idea to look at existing products or solutions? It's great for understanding the market, knowing what is out there already.

It's great for identifying successful features or those perhaps that need to be improved.

Perhaps that might be something that you could do.

And for benchmarking, benchmarking what you are designing against what is already out there.

Now remember, at any point of searching existing products or solutions, you might come across a design requirement.

Remember to jot it down.

Another technique is looking at existing strategies or techniques.

So you might have heard of the Pomodoro technique.

I know we've done it at my school in our revision work.

Now the Pomodoro technique is a simple time management method to help you focus and avoid burnout while studying or working.

So how does it work? First of all, you choose a task, then you set a timer for 25 minutes.

We call that one Pomodoro.

You work only on that task until the timer rings, no distractions.

You then give yourself a five minute break and then you continue.

And after four Pomodoros, you take a much longer break to give your brain time to rest and recharge.

So why is it a good idea to look at existing strategies and techniques? Well, it's great because you can use tested and tried strategies that have already been researched and put that into the product or the solution that you are designing.

Remember, whenever you research some techniques such as this, you might come across a design requirement and you must record that.

A great research technique is to look at the work of past and present designers.

So what do I mean by that? You could go to a shop or a museum or you could do an internet search.

So let's take a little look at a few examples that relate to this unit.

So you could look at the design firm IDO who helped develop the Kooth app.

Now, the Kooth app, if you've never come across it is basically a mental health support app.

It provides live chats with counselors, it provides options for personal journaling and also lots of self-help articles.

Then there's the great products of Alessi.

If you take a little look at this, this is an Alessi toilet brush, but it looks nothing like a toilet brush.

Perhaps you could take inspiration from something like that to design a wellbeing product that doesn't look like a wellbeing product.

So that's people are maybe not particularly anxious about having it on them, so it doesn't necessarily draw attention to them.

And lastly, you could look at the designer Don Norman.

Now he was the pioneer of user centered design and he's produced some amazing research and some amazing books.

Now, Don basically said that design should make things understandable, intuitive and usable, which fit beautifully with this unit.

You are not limited to these three though.

There are all sorts of examples, you've just got to find them.

So it's a great idea for identifying successful features and those to be improved.

And it's a great chance to be inspired, which is the best part about research.

Remember, as you go through, as you research, you will come across things that could make great design requirements.

Don't forget to record them.

You might also like to research inspiring solutions.

What do I mean by that? Well, that could be methods for attaching or detaching or perhaps how to make a product fold or make it more portable.

So you could look at things like magnets, press studs, hook and eyes, hook and loops.

There are all sorts of options and that's the great thing about research.

Sometimes you haven't considered all of those options.

You haven't thought of them, but they come to light when you research.

So it's a great idea for considering alternative methods.

Remember, we record any design requirements as you go through.

This is one of my favorite research methods, which is disassembly.

It's a great idea for understanding the elements that make up a product and also to identify anything that can be changed and equally those parts that cannot be changed.

Have a little look at what you find inside a hot glue gun and what you find inside a watch.

There's probably more than you might have considered.

As Sam says, just remember to check with an adult before you take something apart as you might not be able to take it apart or your adult might not want you to take it apart, especially if you can't get it back together properly.

So please make sure that you check and remember as you take it apart, as you identify what can and cannot be changed, record any design requirements.

It's always great to be able to do a site visit, an environment visit or a shop visit.

And why is this good? Well, it's great for identifying what is currently available, what's being sold and any potential gaps.

And it also helps you to identify ideas that you might not have considered before.

It gives you that firsthand experience too, especially maybe if you're testing or visiting a suitable environment.

As I said before, don't forget record any design requirements.

It might be a really good idea for you to gather some data that is appropriate for your design brief.

So what could I mean by that? That might be dimensions of objects, it might be pocket measurements.

Let's say if it's something, a wellbeing product that needs to be hidden away in a pocket but can be easily accessed.

Perhaps you need to know how big that pocket is, what are the constraints? And you might need sizes of specified spaces if it's got to fit in a certain area or perhaps if it's an environment, you've got a set amount of space.

Be a good idea to gather that data to provide those measurements.

So it's a really good idea for recording required relevant data.

And remember, these measurements make perfect design requirements.

You'll easily be able to test against those measurements.

It might be a good idea for your design brief to do some materials research, just like we identified in learning cycle one.

Perhaps we need some like nice tactile materials.

So why is materials research good? It's good for sustainability considerations, identifying potential options or alternatives.

And for also considering a physical or working properties, including colors, perhaps that might be the color of the actual material or perhaps that might be certain stains or dyes or paints that could be used.

And remember when you do this, record any design requirements that you come across, you might need to research some potential restrictions for your product or your solution.

So that could be things like laws, warnings, products that must be designed around or included.

So for example, age restrictions, compatibility with existing safety products, perhaps flammability when it comes to materials.

So why is this good? It's a good idea for identifying or considering the limits to design within.

As you research, you will come across things that could make design requirements such as age restrictions.

Make sure that you record them before you forget.

Aisha says, I have thought of a different way to research my design brief, but I cannot do this as it's not listed on this slide deck.

Is this statement true or is it false? Have a think.

Pause the video, come back to me when you've made your decision.

Well done if you worked out it is false.

And why is that? You are not limited to these research techniques.

You may think of a better or alternative way to research your own design brief and research needs.

And that is perfectly fine.

Enjoy the researching process.

As we research products or solutions or methods, it is important to analyze the strengths and weaknesses which may identify missed opportunities for innovation and potential design requirements.

Laura decided to analyze the wobble cushion used at her school to help children improve posture, build core strength and maintain focus by allowing gentle movement whilst seated.

Let's take a closer look at the wobble cushion with Laura.

It is durable, flexible, and made with washable PVC, can easily be wiped clean.

It is a wedge shape which supports tilt and balance and it perfectly fits standard chairs.

It has raised bumps.

If you look quite closely, you can see those raised bumps.

So it's got raised bumps, textured surface, providing sensory feedback and stimulation.

And it also has a valve or air plug, which basically allows the cushion to be inflated or deflated to adjust the firmness according to the user.

Laura identified potential design requirements through her analysis.

So let's take a little look at her analysis.

Strengths being the wobble cushion is portable.

It can be moved from room to room.

It's easy to clean, made from one material.

It has a tactile side to remind students to keep focused and it promotes good posture.

Weaknesses on the other hand, it is too bright.

It may be obvious to others that you are using something and that might not be what the student wants.

It is difficult to move one handed.

So let's turn this into design requirements.

First of all, we could say the product must not draw unnecessary attention to make the primary user feel different and the product must be easy to carry and easy to clean.

That comes nicely from the strengths and the product could use a variety of textures.

Some lovely design requirements taken out from the strengths and the weaknesses.

Jun decided to analyze a weighted jumper.

He said it's designed to look like a normal jumper for inclusivity.

It has discreet distributed pockets for weights in the lining, so nobody knows that they're in there.

It has removable weights for washing and adjustment.

It has soft, comfortable fabric for warmth and security, and it gives a calming effect of weights.

Sorry, it gives a calming effect by the weights mimicking the soothing sensation of a hug.

I might try one myself.

Jo identified potential design requirements through his analysis.

So the strengths, the removable weights for washing and adjustment, the soothing sensation of a hug.

And it looks like a normal jumper.

Weaknesses is it can be very fiddly to put the weights into pockets and then remove them too, especially if you need to wash it.

So design requirements, the product must be simple and easy to use or clean.

Nothing fiddly, the product must not draw unnecessary attention to make the primary user feel different.

That is one of the strengths of this weighted jumper.

Well done Jun.

Izzy decided to analyze a wellbeing room.

She said there are painted mural using vibrant colors.

There is adjustable lighting to change the feel of the room depending on the mood.

There are bean bags cushions for flexible and movable seating and comfort and there is a range of tactile textures.

Izzy identified potential design requirements through her analysis.

She said strengths, vibrant murals, adjustable lighting to change the feel of the room depending on mood and feel flexible, movable seating.

She said the weaknesses, there is a lack of privacy.

It is one open space.

So design requirements, Izzy says the solution could be able to be sectioned into smaller areas for different focuses and that the solution must be adjustable and adaptable with seating and lighting.

Those design requirements have come straight from that research.

Well done Izzy, time for a quick check-in.

What do research techniques not do? A, create design requirements.

B, find out about your competitors.

C, provide a final design solution or D, identify missed opportunities for innovation.

Have a think, pause the video.

Come back to me when you've made your decision.

Well done if you worked out that it was C, research techniques do not provide a final design solution.

Using research to inform design requirements will ensure that design solutions will meet the needs of the primary user and or stakeholders to be competitive against existing products and solve the design brief.

Enjoy your researching.

If you are struggling with a stressor or barrier, you should speak to any of the following, A trusted adult, a teacher, your school's SENDCO or a DSL, a designated safeguarding lead.

Onto task B, part one.

Consider which research techniques will enable you to solve your design brief identified in task A.

Read through those research techniques and assign suitable ones to your research needs.

Or think of alternative techniques that would work for your design brief.

Part two, using a variety of research techniques, investigate your design brief.

Try to use several different research techniques as you go through.

Part three, record any design requirements identified in your research.

Remember, a design requirement is something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful.

They should not describe a specific solution so as not to create design fixation.

Part one I asked you to consider which research techniques will enable you to solve your design brief identified in task A.

So Izzy's design brief was to design an innovative solution to enable teenagers to calmly approach exam revision at school or home so that they do not feel overwhelmed and are able to focus on the revision productively.

So Izzy chose the following research techniques to explore existing solutions, including timers, to research color theory and the Pomodoro technique and to measure the spaces where a solution could fit great choices Izzy.

Part two, I asked you using a variety of research techniques, investigate your design brief.

So Izzy researched existing timers on phones.

So the strengths of a phone timer.

Well, the length of time can be adjusted according to task.

The primary user, Alex owns his own phone already.

Weaknesses, the phone provides the potential for distraction.

I know that well.

Izzy went on to research color theory.

Strengths she found, using blue or green for calm helps focus you for studying, using yellow or orange for highlighting or energizing materials.

Weaknesses, avoid too much red as it can increase stress or urgency and keep your workspace visually balanced.

Too many bright colors can distract you whilst revising.

Great points there, Izzy.

Izzy also gathered some data.

So Izzy research measurements and found that the average desktop surface is 1,200 by 600 millimeters.

Bedside cabinets, top surfaces tend to be 400 by 350 millimeters.

The common average textbook size is 200 by 260 by 30 millimeters.

And the common average workbook size is 190 millimeters by 260 by 10 millimeters.

Part three, I asked you to record any design requirements identified in your research.

Let's go back to Izzy's research.

She said mobile phone timers provide distraction.

Turning that into a design requirement, the solution must provide a countdown without direct access to a distracting mobile device.

She also researched color theory.

The design requirement being the solution could use blue or green for calm, focused studying.

And lastly, measurements.

The design requirements being the solution must be able to fit onto an average size desk, which is 1,200 by 600 millimeters, and allowing ample space for textbooks and workbooks with the measurements there.

This brings us to the end of our lesson today.

Let's summarize what we have found out.

A design brief outlines the design opportunity and identifies a primary user's needs and wants.

Design requirements are something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful.

There are a variety of research techniques such as looking into existing products, product disassembly and product testing.

Research techniques can provide inspiration for design requirements and potential design ideas.

Now, if you need support at all, please have a little look at both of these.

We have NHS Live Well and the NHS website.

Feel free to pause the video and have a little look at those if you would like to.

And lastly, thank you for all of your hard work today, and I hope to see you in another lesson soon.

Take good care, bye bye bye.