Session 3

Design & Ideation

You Already Have an Idea

You probably pictured a solution while revising the client brief. The client did too: a foam tube, a stronger clip, or better wheels.

Those ideas are useful starting points. They are not decisions.

An Idea Is Not a Decision

Your first idea is usually your fastest idea.

Design gives you alternatives and a reason to choose among them.

An Assumption Is Not a Fact

Every client brief left its success criterion unstated. Your team inferred a working target.

Use that target today, but keep labeling it as an assumption to verify.

Divergent Thinking

• Quantity first — make several options
• Individual first — think before the group talks
• Different mechanisms — not cosmetic variations

Try Three Different Approaches

• Can we prevent the problem from starting?
• Can we reduce the problem while it happens?
• Can we limit the damage if it still happens?

Use these questions to push beyond your first idea.

Example: The Bakery Cart

A cart hits a raised doorway threshold, jolting the cart and shifting its trays.

• Prevent it: Add a small ramp over the threshold.
• Reduce it: Add cushioning that absorbs the jolt.
• Limit the damage: Add tray restraints that prevent a spill.

These are brainstorming questions, not required categories. One concept may answer more than one question.

Generate, Then Decide

Individual First, Team Second

1. Each person sketches 3 quick thumbnails.
2. Share every idea before evaluating.
3. Select 3 genuinely different team concepts.

Build Criteria from the Brief

Your matrix columns come from this client's success target and constraints — not from a generic list.

A bakery rack and a marching-band stand should not be judged by identical criteria.

Score with Anchors

• 3 — clearly meets the criterion
• 2 — partly meets it or needs testing
• 1 — conflicts with or fails the criterion

A high total cannot rescue a concept that fails a non-negotiable constraint.

Worked Example: Backpack

A student carries a 15-pound backpack on a 20-minute walk. Shoulder pain begins after 10 minutes.

• Success target: little or no pain for the full walk
• Constraints: removable, $20 or less, classroom build

Worked Example: Score the Concepts

Concept	Pain	Remove	Cost	Build	Total
A: Padded sleeve	2	3	3	3	11
B: Load-sharing strap	3	3	2	2	10
C: Rigid frame	3	1	1	1	6

Why is A only a 2 on pain? Padding might help, but the team needs to test it.

Worked Example: Read the Matrix

Concept A leads 11 to 10, but its most important score is uncertain.

• A is the provisional choice.
• Pain reduction becomes the first test.
• If A fails that test, B may become the better choice.

Next Time

Session 4: Into the Shop

Your concepts stay on paper. Next, we investigate the real hazards and safe practices in our shop.

'F' → Fullscreen

Build

Use your team's Revised Working Brief from Session 2. The thumbnail sketches begin individually; the final concepts and matrix are teamwork.

Part A: Reopen the Brief

Reopen your Revised Working Brief and locate the evidence your decision must use. Do not copy it yet; you will write it once as the headings of your decision matrix.

• Your final problem statement
• Your working success criterion and whether it was stated or inferred
• At least three important client constraints

Part B: Park the Anchors

Write down the client's proposed solution and your own first idea. You may return to them later, but do not let either one silently become the answer.

Part C: Generate Individually

In your notebook, sketch three quick thumbnails. Ask whether you can prevent the problem from starting, reduce it while it happens, or limit the damage if it still happens. You do not need one idea in each category, and an idea may answer more than one question. Label the mechanism that makes each concept work.

Part D: Converge as a Team

Share every thumbnail before evaluating. Then select three genuinely different team concepts. If you covered their labels, someone should still recognize three different approaches.

Part E: Build a Client-Derived Decision Matrix

Use the working success criterion for one column. Select three relevant client constraints for the other columns. Score each concept using the same anchors:

• 3 — clearly meets the criterion
• 2 — partly meets it or needs testing
• 1 — conflicts with or fails the criterion

A high total cannot rescue a concept that fails a non-negotiable constraint. Treat the total as evidence for discussion, not an automatic decision.

Worked Example: Backpack Discomfort

A student carries a 15-pound backpack on a 20-minute walk and reports shoulder pain after 10 minutes. The solution must be removable, cost no more than $20, and use classroom materials. The working success target is little or no pain for the full walk.

Concept A leads, but its most important score is only a 2. The total makes it the provisional choice; the weak score tells the team what it must test.

Complete your own matrix. Defend one score that helped a concept and one that hurt it, then name the uncertainty most likely to change your decision.

Checkpoint

Reflection

Answer these on your own. Reflections are individual, even when the rest of the session was teamwork.

1. Which concept led after scoring? Did that match your gut choice? Use one score to explain how the evidence changed or confirmed your thinking.
2. Imagine fabricating your provisional concept. Name one action you might take, one way someone could be hurt or the work could fail, and one safe practice that might reduce that risk. In Session 4, you will test that thinking against the real shop.

Submit

Submit one worksheet per team. Each student submits an individual exit slip. Keep your individual thumbnails in your engineering notebook.

Activity Complete