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Unit 1 of 6 · about 18 min

Problems Worth Solving

Spotting a need, and writing it down so you can actually solve it
📖 Read🔤 Words to know🛠 Mini activity✅ Check

Every design starts with a need

You solve problems all day without noticing. Your locker will not shut, so you move a book. Your water bottle keeps rolling off the desk, so you wedge it against a stack of folders. Those quick fixes are problem solving. Design is problem solving done on purpose: you notice a need, you plan a solution, and you make it.

A need is a gap between how things are and how someone wants them to be. Some needs are small and belong to one person: a shelf that fits one odd corner of one bedroom. Some needs are huge and belong to a whole town: a crowded road that needs more lanes or a bus line. Big needs take teams and years. Small needs can be solved this week, in this room, with cardboard.

NEEDA way to carry booksA desk that fits my chairA bottle that does not leakSomething is missing,broken, or not working.WANTA backpack in my team colorsA desk with a secret drawerA bottle that glowsNice to have.The need still comes first.
Needs and wants. A need is a gap: something missing, broken, or not working for someone. A want makes a solution nicer but does not close the gap. Good designers solve the need first and add the wants if there is room.

Needs and wants

A want is different from a need. Maya needs her water bottle to stay on her desk. She wants it to be blue and glow in the dark. A good designer solves the need first and adds the wants only if there is time and material left. If you start with the glow, the bottle still rolls off.

Who has the problem?

The person with the need is the user. The user is not always the designer, and that is where mistakes come from. A desk that feels fine to a tall teacher may not fit a short student. People who are older may need jar lids that twist easily and stairs with rails. Before you design, ask the user: What goes wrong? When? What have you tried? Their answers are the first and best information you will get.

The design brief

Once you understand the need, write it down as a design brief: a short statement of the problem plus the details a designer must know. A useful brief has two kinds of details.

The brief: a stand that keeps Maya's water bottle on her desk(what the solution must DO) + (the limits it must live inside)CRITERIAHolds the bottle uprightDoes not tip when bumpedEasy to grab the bottlea good solution DOES theseCONSTRAINTSOnly cardboard and glueFinished in two class periodsSmaller than a lunchboxa solution MAY NOT break these
Criteria and constraints. Criteria describe what a good solution does. Constraints are the limits every solution has to live inside: the materials you have, the time you get, the size it must fit, the rules you must follow. Together they are the brief.
What it isExample for Maya's bottle
CriteriaWhat a good solution must doHolds the bottle upright; does not tip when bumped
ConstraintsThe limits the solution must live insideCardboard and glue only; done in two class periods; smaller than a lunchbox

Criteria tell you when you have succeeded. Constraints tell you what you are not allowed to do to get there: how much can be spent, which materials you may use, when it is due, how big it can be, what rules it must follow. Together they are a specification, and a solution that meets every criterion inside every constraint is a good design.

A problem you can state clearly is already half solved. A problem you cannot state yet is not ready to be built.

🔤 Words to know

Problem solving
Figuring out how to get from the way things are to the way you want them to be.
Design
A plan for making something — problem solving done on purpose, from need to finished object.
Need
A gap between how things are and how someone needs them to be; the reason a design exists.
Want
Something that would make a solution nicer but does not close the gap — handled after the need.
User
The person who has the need and will use the solution; the first person a designer should ask.
Design brief
A short written statement of the problem plus the details a designer must know to solve it.
Criteria
What a good solution must do — the tests a design has to pass to count as a success.
Constraints
The limits a solution must live inside: materials, money, time, size, safety, rules.
Specification
The criteria and constraints written out together, so everyone agrees what "done" means.

🛠 Mini activity: Write Maya's brief

Maya's water bottle rolls off her slanted desk about once a class. Help her turn that annoyance into a design brief a classmate could build from.

  1. 1
    Which statement is the best problem statement for Maya?
    💡 A good statement names the user, the need, and why it matters — and does not pick the solution yet.
    Choose one, then Check.
  2. 2
    Sort each detail from the brief into Criteria (what it must do) or Constraints (the limits).
  3. 3
    Maya listed what she would like. Sort each one: is it a Need or a Want?
  4. 4
    You get three minutes with Maya before you design. Choose every question that will actually help.

✅ Check: Problems Worth Solving

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  • Mini activity: every step needs its ✓.
The five-question check unlocks here as soon as the last one lands.
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Unit 2: The Design Process →