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Lesson 5 of 14
  • Year 10

Idea generation

I can use a range of strategies to create design ideas which avoid design fixation.

Lesson 5 of 14
New
New
  • Year 10

Idea generation

I can use a range of strategies to create design ideas which avoid design fixation.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A range of strategies can be used to expand design thinking.
  2. Exploring multiple ideas encourages creativity and leads to more innovative design outcomes.

Keywords

  • Design strategy - a method of generating ideas

  • Design requirements - something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

  • Design fixation - consider only one possible solution

  • Innovation - introducing new or improved ideas

  • Annotation - a comment added to a design to provide explanation, clarification, or extra information

Common misconception

The first idea is always the best.

Creativity improves with divergent thinking and iteration - the first idea is rarely the final one.


To help you plan your year 10 design and technology lesson on: Idea generation, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Share famous examples of multiple iterations of existing products.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
How can you avoid design fixation when writing a design brief?

conduct lots of research
Correct answer: be non-specific
be specific
conduct minimal research

Q2.
Match the keyword to its correct definition:

Correct Answer:design brief,outlines the design opportunity and identifies a primary user

outlines the design opportunity and identifies a primary user

Correct Answer:design requirements,something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

Correct Answer:inspiration,someone or something that gives you ideas

someone or something that gives you ideas

Correct Answer:research technique,a method for finding out design requirements

a method for finding out design requirements

Q3.
Which of the following is not a research technique?

product disassembly
exploring existing products
exploring the work of past and present designers
completing a shop visit
Correct answer: drawing design ideas

Q4.
Research techniques help to define ...

Correct Answer: design requirements, requirements

Q5.
Visiting a shop to look at the range of products they sell is an example of ...

a design brief
product disassembly
design requirements
Correct answer: a research technique

Q6.
Why is it important to create more than one design idea?

Correct answer: to avoid design fixation
Correct answer: you might miss out on an amazing idea that you had not considered
it wastes time but shows creativity
it confuses the designer
it makes the product more expensive

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Annotating design ideas is important to ...

Correct answer: explain how the idea works
Correct answer: identify strengths/weaknesses/potential opportunities
Correct answer: record primary user/stakeholder thoughts
Correct answer: analyse against design requirements
create design fixation

Q2.
Match the keyword to the definition:

Correct Answer:annotation,a comment added to provide explanation, clarification, or information

a comment added to provide explanation, clarification, or information

Correct Answer:design strategy,a method of generating ideas

a method of generating ideas

Correct Answer:design fixation,consider only one possible solution

consider only one possible solution

Correct Answer:innovation,introducing new or improved ideas

introducing new or improved ideas

Correct Answer:design requirements,something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

Q3.
Biomimicry is when inspiration is taken from ...

Correct Answer: nature, natural world, animals/plants

Q4.
Match the design strategy to the definition:

Correct Answer:collaborative design,working together to develop design ideas

working together to develop design ideas

Correct Answer:morphology,combining product features to explore new ideas

combining product features to explore new ideas

Correct Answer:sketching,drawing quick ideas to explore design concepts

drawing quick ideas to explore design concepts

Correct Answer:reverse engineering,taking apart products to understand how they work

taking apart products to understand how they work

Correct Answer:bisociation,combining unlike ideas

combining unlike ideas

Q5.
Which design strategy does this image show?

An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: reverse engineering, product disassembly

Q6.
Which design strategies may require you to attribute ‘someone’ or ‘something’?

Correct answer: AI
reverse engineering
Correct answer: primary user designing
Correct answer: collaborative designing