Key Stage 2 design and technology · Design

KS2 design research and design criteria: a guide for parents

In Key Stage 2, good design starts with a real person. Children find out what a particular user needs, through asking, observing and looking at existing products, and turn their findings into a list of design criteria. That list guides every choice they make and becomes the checklist they use to judge their finished product. It is one of the most important habits in design and technology.

Research and design criteria, explained

The programme of study says that when designing and making, pupils should be taught to use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups. That sentence contains the whole method. Children decide who the product is for, find out about those people, write down what the product must do and be, and then design to that list.

Research in primary design and technology is practical. Children might interview or survey the people who will use the product, watch how someone uses something similar, look at existing products to see what works and what doesn’t, take measurements, or taste-test for a food project. Books and websites can help too, but the best research answers a specific question: how big must it be, what do the users like, and what goes wrong with the products that already exist?

Design criteria are the result. They are statements, usually in a list, that say what the product must do and what it should be like. Good criteria are specific enough to test. “Strong” is vague, but “holds a full water bottle without tearing” can be checked. Criteria usually cover function (does it do the job), appeal (does it look and feel right for the user), size, safety, materials and cost. “Innovative” means bringing a new idea or a fresh twist, not inventing something never seen before.

Real design is iterative, which means going round a loop of designing, making, testing and improving. The curriculum asks for this explicitly: pupils should engage in an iterative process of designing and making. Criteria can change as children learn from a prototype, for example finding that a size they chose is too small. Criteria can also pull against each other, such as cheap against hard-wearing, and children learn to make sensible trade-offs.

Pupils are also taught to work in a range of relevant contexts. The curriculum suggests the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment as examples, and schools choose which to use. So one project might be a snack for a school event, another a product for a younger class, another something for a local business.

Words your child will hear

Design brief: A short description of what is to be designed, for whom and why.
User: The person or group who will use the product. Designers keep them in mind at every step.
Research: Finding out useful information before designing, such as asking users or looking at similar products.
Design criteria: A list of things the product must do or be, which can be tested at the end.
Fit for purpose: Good enough at the job it was made for.
Evaluate: To judge how well a design works, often by checking it against the design criteria.
Iterative: Done in repeated rounds of design, make, test and improve.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making.
Pupils should work in a range of relevant contexts [for example, the home, school, leisure, culture, enterprise, industry and the wider environment].

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: from research to design criteria

The brief: design a bag for a Year 1 child to carry a reading book and a water bottle to school. Show how research leads to design criteria. (The measurements, survey results and budget below are made up for the example.)

Name the user. The bag is for a child of five or six in Year 1, not for the designer. That means small hands, short arms and little patience with tricky fastenings.
Do the research. Measure a real reading book and bottle, ask five Year 1 children and their teacher what they carry and what they find annoying, and look at three bags on the market.
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Book: 21 cm x 15 cm
Bottle: 6 cm wide, 20 cm tall
4 of 5 said: zips get stuck
3 of 5 wanted bright colours
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Turn each finding into a criterion. The measurements give the size, the stuck zips give the fastening, and the colour preference gives the appearance.
Make every criterion testable. “Looks nice” is too vague. The survey said bright colours, so rewrite it as “uses bright colours, and at least three of the five children say they like the look when shown the finished bag”. “Strong” becomes “carries a full bottle and book without tearing when swung gently”.
Keep the criteria for later. After making a prototype, the designer tests each one and ticks it or notes what to change. The list can then be revised.

Design criteria: (1) holds a 21 cm by 15 cm book and a 6 cm wide, 20 cm tall bottle; (2) fastens with something a Year 1 child can open alone, so no small zips; (3) straps short enough to stay on small shoulders; (4) wipeable fabric; (5) uses bright colours, and at least three of the five children say they like the look; (6) costs under £3 in materials.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking research means searching the internet for an idea to copy

Online searching is the research method children know best, and it seems to give instant answers.

What helps: Remind them that the best research is about the user. Ask the people who’ll use the product, watch them, and measure real things. Looking at other designs is for learning what works, not copying.

Designing for themselves instead of the person in the brief

A child’s own taste is the one they know best, so it creeps in unnoticed.

What helps: Keep asking, “Would Year 1 children like this? How do you know?” An answer based on what the users said is worth much more than one based on what the designer prefers.

Writing criteria that are too vague to check

Words like “good”, “strong” and “nice” feel like criteria, but there is no way to tell if they’ve been met.

What helps: Look for a number, a size or a test. Ask, “How would we check that?” If nobody can say, the criterion needs rewriting.

Believing that the criteria are fixed once written, or that every one must be perfectly met

A list looks like a set of rules, and children see unmet criteria as failure.

What helps: Explain that real designers revise criteria after testing, and often must trade one against another, such as cost against durability. Explaining a trade-off is a sign of good thinking.

How to help at home

Interview a user. Ask your child to design something small for a family member, such as a pen holder for a grandparent. Before they draw anything, they should ask three questions, like “What do you keep on your desk?” and write down the answers.
Compare three similar products. Put out three bags, cups or torches and ask what each is good at and who it suits. Naming strengths and weaknesses is the same skill as product research.
Write five “musts”. For a lunch box for a younger sibling, ask your child to write five specific things it must do. Then challenge each one: how would you test it?
Measure real things. Designing to fit means getting measurements right. Let your child measure the book, bottle or toy that the product will hold, using centimetres or millimetres, and keep the numbers on the plan.
Let them own the project. Offer questions instead of answers, such as “Who is it for?” and “What did they say?” Children learn the method best when they come up with the criteria themselves.

Builds on

Key Stage 1: Design criteria and users
Key Stage 1: Drawings, templates and mock-ups

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Understanding user needs
Key Stage 3: Identifying design problems
Key Stage 3: Writing a design specification
Key Stage 3: Biomimicry and user-centred design
Key Stage 3: Communicating design ideas