Year 9 - Design and technology
Explore contexts and empathise
Developments in new materials: supporting new parents
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils will develop knowledge of smart and modern materials and apply this to designing a product to support new parents. They will develop strategies for generating ideas by investigating a specific context.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explore contexts and empathise with users.
Key Notes
- Designers show empathy when exploring contexts.
- Empathy is having the ability to understand and share the feelings, thoughts, or experiences of another person.
- Showing empathy supports designing because it helps designers better understand what users really need, feel and want.
- A user journey map can support showing empathy with users.
- Exploring experiences can give designers insight into the needs and wants of users.
Vocabulary To Learn
- user: who you are designing for
- needs: basic requirements that are essential for an individual's survival, health, and well-being
- wants: desires or wishes for non-essential items or experiences
- empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings, thoughts, or experiences of another person
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Exploring the context should happen quickly so that you can get to the most important phase of designing.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Designers show empathy when exploring contexts. Empathy is having the ability to understand and share the feelings, thoughts, or experiences of another person.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'user'
who you are designing for.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Exploring the context should happen quickly so that you can get to the most important phase of designing. Correction: Designing is an important phase. However, taking the time to really explore the context and understand the users needs and wants will provide solid foundations for successful designing.
More Lessons In This Unit
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