Learning from Existing Products
A product can teach you how another designer solved a similar problem.
By the end of today, students can…
Identify
the user and main function of a familiar product.
Describe
important features such as shape, material, size, or moving parts.
Explain
how one feature helps the product work.
Look for choices that affect use.
If this feature changed, would the product become easier, harder, safer, weaker, more stable, or less useful?
What can we observe?
Two metal arms · springy metal body · wide opening · flat gripping edges.
What can we infer?
The arms help the user open the clip. The metal body flexes and creates the gripping force.
Handle, observe, and describe.
First look
Notice the product before using it.
Interact
Use it safely. Watch what moves, bends, opens, grips, or supports.
Analyse
Choose one product for your detailed analysis sheet.
Weak
“The handle is good.”
Stronger
“The wide rubber grip gives the user more surface area to hold and reduces slipping.”
“The _______ feature helps the product _______ because _______.”
Choose one feature that could inspire another design.
Learning from a product does not mean copying the whole product. Designers can learn from a useful feature, mechanism, shape, or material choice.
Finish one sentence.
Next lesson
Students learn how research questions help designers replace guessing with useful evidence.