Key Stage 3 design and technology · Design

KS3 design and technology: biomimicry and user-centred design

Creative ideas do not just appear: designers use methods to generate them. In Key Stage 3 design and technology, pupils learn to use a variety of approaches, such as biomimicry (learning from nature) and user-centred design (designing with the people who will use the product), to generate original ideas and avoid stereotypical responses. They then use those ideas to meet a specification.

Biomimicry and user-centred design, explained

The programme of study asks pupils to use a variety of approaches to generate creative ideas and to avoid stereotypical responses. It names biomimicry and user-centred design as examples, and these are examples only: schools choose which approaches to teach, and you may also hear about mind maps, mood boards, sketching many quick ideas, looking at other cultures, or asking “what if?” questions. The point is that having a method is better than waiting for inspiration, and that the first idea is rarely the best.

Biomimicry means looking at how nature has already solved a problem and borrowing the principle, not copying the shape. A well-known example is hook-and-loop fastening, which was inspired by burrs that stuck to a dog’s coat: tiny hooks catching in loops. The leaves of the lotus plant have a surface of microscopic bumps that makes water bead up and roll off, carrying dirt away, and designers have used that principle for self-cleaning surfaces. Pupils learn to ask “what living thing faces a similar challenge, and how does it cope?” and then to describe the principle in general terms.

User-centred design places the people who will use a product at the heart of the process. Designers study users, involve them in generating and testing ideas, and treat their feedback as evidence. Pupils might build a quick model and ask a user to try it, observe where they struggle, and change the design. It encourages empathy: understanding how a product feels from someone else’s position, such as a left-handed user, someone with limited grip strength or someone younger or older than themselves.

Both approaches help pupils avoid stereotypical responses. Without a method, designs often follow assumptions: a toolkit that is blue and a craft kit that is pink, a product that assumes everyone is right-handed or able-bodied, or a lunch bag that is only “for boys” or “for girls”. Working from nature or from real users pushes pupils beyond the first obvious idea and towards ones that suit more people.

Ideas still need to be checked against the problem. Pupils compare each one with their specification, develop the strongest, and test it. Creative thinking at this stage is therefore not about being wild but about producing a wide range of possibilities and then choosing sensibly between them.

Words your child will hear

Biomimicry: Designing by learning from how plants, animals and other living things solve problems.
User-centred design: Designing with and for the people who will use the product, testing ideas with them.
Stereotype: A fixed, oversimplified idea about a group of people or a type of product.
Empathy: Understanding how something feels from another person’s point of view.
Inclusive design: Designing so that as many people as possible can use a product, whatever their age, size or ability.
Mood board: A collage of images, colours and materials that shows the style or feeling of a design idea.
Generate: To come up with many ideas, quickly and without judging them too early.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

When designing and making, pupils should be taught to use a variety of approaches [for example, biomimicry and user-centred design] to generate creative ideas and avoid stereotypical responses
When designing and making, pupils should be taught to develop specifications to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that respond to needs in a variety of situations

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

Try it: borrowing an idea from nature

A pupil is designing a garden table top that stays clean in the rain with little scrubbing. Show how they could use biomimicry and user-centred design to generate ideas.

State the challenge in a general way: “a surface that keeps itself clean and sheds water”. Avoid naming a solution such as “a special coating” because that closes off ideas.
Ask which living things face a similar challenge. Leaves that grow outdoors must not stay wet and dirty. The lotus leaf is a famous case, so research how it works.
Find the principle. The lotus leaf has tiny bumps and a waxy surface. Water cannot spread out, so it forms beads that roll off and pick up dust on the way. The principle is a textured surface that water cannot cling to.
Turn the principle into design ideas. Sketch a table top with a finely textured or ridged surface, a slight slope to help drops roll off, or a pattern of raised dots. Draw several ideas, not only one.
Bring in the users. Show the sketches to the people who will use the table. Ask whether they would like the feel of the surface, whether a plate would sit steady, and whether it is easy to wipe. Use their answers to choose and refine one idea, and check it doesn’t rely on assumptions about who sits at the table.

Several sketched ideas for a textured, slightly sloping table top, based on the way water beads on a lotus leaf, then narrowed down by asking real users what they want. The idea comes from nature but is tested for people.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking biomimicry means copying the shape of an animal or plant

Pupils picture a product that looks like a bird or a leaf, because the shape is the most visible thing.

What helps: Ask, “What is the nature doing, and why does it work?” The principle (the bumps trap air so water beads) can be used in a design that looks nothing like a leaf.

Believing creative means a brilliant idea arrives at once

Films and stories suggest inspiration appears suddenly, so pupils stop after one idea or wait for a spark.

What helps: Set a target of ten quick ideas in ten minutes without judging them. Quantity gives a better chance of one worth developing.

Designing for “the average person”

There is no such person, and a design aimed at the average often suits few people well. Pupils also fall back on assumptions about boys, girls, ages or abilities.

What helps: Ask who might struggle with the design, such as a left-hander, a child or an older person, and test with someone different from the pupil.

Asking for opinions but ignoring the answers

Pupils are attached to their idea, so feedback that disagrees feels like criticism.

What helps: Treat feedback as evidence. Ask what the user did, not just what they said, and write down one change the feedback leads to.

How to help at home

Go on a nature design walk. In a garden, park or even a houseplant, ask your child to find something that does a clever job: a seed that spreads, a leaf that sheds rain, a shell that protects. Ask what we might build from the idea.
Set a quick-ideas challenge. Pick an everyday object, like a cup or a bag, and give five minutes to sketch as many different versions as possible. Silly ideas count. Choosing comes afterwards.
Try a product from someone else’s position. Ask your child to open a jar, do up buttons or use a zip with their non-writing hand, or while wearing thick gloves. It builds empathy for people who find ordinary products hard to use.
Be a test user. When your child has a model or sketch, try it and say honestly what you did and what you found hard. Resist the urge to say it is perfect, because honest feedback is what helps.
Spot stereotypes in shops. Look at how products are coloured, named or marketed, for example toys or tools. Ask whether the design really suits only one group of people, and how it could be made for everyone.

Builds on

Key Stage 2: Research and design criteria
Key Stage 2: Sketches and exploded diagrams
Key Stage 2: Prototypes, patterns and CAD