- Workbook/digital portfolio
- Pen/paper
- Computer/laptop
- Camera
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Unpacking the Brief
Equipment
Guiding questions
Think about these questions as you work your way through the lesson:
- Which items do you use in your Technology classes?
- Which teachers are always stressed out and running around trying to 'find things'?
- What is the first thing you tend to notice about products/items in the Technology Block?
- Which items always get damaged and/or lost in Technology?
- Are there any classroom/workshops that look unprofessional because of the mess?
Lesson Content
As designers, we should always keep our eyes peeled for both good and bad design. Noticing the physical things around us, and thinking critically about them is good practice for when we need to evaluate products/items in our projects. Considering how we interact/use products are important in designing something that is dynamic and meaningful.
Using the Technology Block as your playground, you will select products and items that you will pick apart (figuratively) to evaluate.
Take time to think about and evaluate things such as:
- Materials used (and how this adds to or takes away from its functionality)
- Size: how much room is it taking up? And does it need to be taking up that much room?
- Colour: does this need to be this colour?
- The difficulty of construction - do you think this was hard to make?
- Cost: do you think this was cheap to make?
- Long term or temporary: how long will this last?
- Do you use it? And if so, why or why not?
- What's it's job? How well does it do it?
Existing Storage Solutions
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Document what we have
Photograph 6 of the main storage solutions in the Technology Block. Then print and stick into your workbook, or insert into your portfolio if working digitally
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Take notes
Make a note of the materials, construction methods, cost, and what items it stores
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How well does it do it's job?
Evaluate the overall success - how well does it do its job? PMI is a quick easy tool to help evaluate something (positive/minus/improvements)
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What are your experiences?
Add your personal experiences of each solution - when is it used? By whom? Have you used it?
Note: see Hollie's example below.
Hollie's Exisiting Storage Analysis
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Existing storage in Hollie's workshop
Evaluating Items to be stored
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Photograph 6 of the main ‘families’ of items stored in the Technology Block. A family is a group of things that belong together e.g. hand tools/drawing stuff/student folders
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Label each image with a description of the object.
Consider:
- Measurements.
- Weight.
- Cost.
- Danger/risk.
- How often it is used.
- Main users (students and teachers).
- How the objects are normally stored.
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Improvements:
- Add a few quick ideas of how these objects could be better stored to your description.
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Rank the objects from those you are the most interested in to the least interested in. In other words - what do you want to design storage for?
Note: see Hollie's example below.
Hollie's Existing Items to Be Stored
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Items around Hollie's workshop that need a new home