How do you break a design situation apart to find the real problems worth solving?
Analyse a design situation to identify the key problems, the people affected, and the questions research must answer
A clear answer to the N(A)-Level D&T outcome on analysing a design situation. How to break a situation into the problem, the people and the constraints, and turn it into research questions before you start designing.
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What this dot point is asking
SEAB wants you to take a design situation and break it apart to find the real problems, the people affected, and the questions your research must answer. This happens right at the start of a project, before you design anything. Good analysis stops you from solving the wrong problem.
The answer
Why analyse first
A design situation is usually a short description of a context where something is going wrong. If you rush to ideas, you risk designing for a problem that is not really there. Analysing first makes sure you understand the real need and who has it, so your product fits.
What to pull out of the situation
Break the situation into three parts:
- The problem. What exactly is going wrong, in your own words. This is more than repeating the situation; it is naming the underlying issue.
- The people affected. Who has the problem, and who else is involved? Often more than one group, such as the main user and the people around them.
- The constraints. What limits the solution, such as space, cost, time or where it will be used.
Turning analysis into research questions
The point of analysis is to know what to find out next. Each part of your analysis should produce research questions. For a messy canteen, questions might be "how much rubbish does a student produce?" and "where do students actually sit?". These questions then drive the research stage and feed the specification.
Showing your analysis
In coursework you can show analysis with simple tools: a list of problems, a mind map of the people and constraints, or a few "who, what, where, when, why" questions. The tool matters less than showing you have thought about the situation from more than one angle.
Examples in context
Example 1. A shared bathroom. A situation describes family members fighting over counter space for toiletries. Analysis names the problem (not enough organised space), the people (each family member with different items), and constraints (a small counter, must not block the sink). Research questions follow about how many items and their sizes.
Example 2. Skipping analysis backfires. A student reads "students need to carry art folders safely" and immediately designs a fancy strap, ignoring that the real problem is folders bending in crowded corridors. A quick analysis would have pointed to stiffness, not just a strap.
Try this
Q1. State the three things you should pull out when analysing a design situation. [3 marks]
- Cue. The real problem, the people affected, and the constraints.
Q2. For the situation "library users cannot find power sockets to charge laptops", write one good research question. [1 mark]
- Cue. For example, "Where are the existing sockets and how many laptop users are there at busy times?"
Q3. Explain why naming more than one group of people affected leads to a better design. [3 marks]
- Cue. Because a product often affects others beyond the main user, such as cleaners or carers, and designing for all of them avoids creating a new problem while solving the first.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SEAB exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Original5 marksRead this design situation: 'During recess, students buy snacks but the canteen tables get messy because there is nowhere to put rubbish near where they eat.' Analyse the situation by identifying the problem, the people affected, and two questions you would research.Show worked answer →
Problem: there is nowhere convenient to put rubbish near where students eat, so tables get messy.
People affected: students who eat there, and the canteen cleaners who have to clean the mess.
Two research questions, for example: How much rubbish does a typical student produce at recess? Where do students sit and how far is the nearest existing bin?
What markers reward: a clear statement of the real problem (not just repeating the situation), naming more than one group of people affected, and sensible research questions that would actually help solve the problem.
Original4 marksExplain why analysing the design situation before designing leads to a better product.Show worked answer →
Analysing the situation makes sure you solve the real problem and design for the right people. If you skip it, you might design something that does not fit the user or misses the main need. The analysis also gives you research questions, so your later decisions are based on evidence rather than guesses.
What markers reward: the idea that analysis finds the real problem and the right user, with the consequence that the product fits the need; and the point that it guides research so decisions are evidence based.
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