Hathershaw School and Jonathan Ball

Duration: 24 hours over three days
Teacher: Matt Samkin
Students: Year 9

Jonathan Ball is a design manager.

Activity

The students were set the task of designing a radio for the garden or the beach. Jonathan specified that the design should take into account who the customer was, how much they could afford, what they wanted from the product, where the radio would be used and how it will be sold to them.

Over the first two days the students came up with and developed their ideas for the radio and created profiles of potential customers. Jonathan and Matt judged the results and chose the best two concepts, which were taken to design studio IDEO to be turned into computer-generated solid models.

At IDEO the students briefed the designers to turn the concepts into models and were treated to a studio tour. Back at school the students worked on the non-plastic parts of the prototypes while the model files were sent by IDEO to the Keyworth Institute at Leeds University for rapid prototyping.

On the last day the students assembled the pieces to make the finished, professional-looking radios, which took the form of a crab and an island scene in the shape of a sail.

Feedback

Designer

Jonathan explained that his motivation for participating was to give the students something he had missed out on as a child. 'I wish someone had done it for me when I was at school. I wanted the kids to go through the whole design process from concept to creation and end up with a tangible product that they could be proud of. It's a great thing to do. If more designers knew about it they'd jump on board.'

Teacher

'A project like this would normally stretch over seven or eight weeks with two one-hour lessons devoted to it,' said Matt Samkin, explaining the difference between the Designers into Schools Week project and a normal D&T project. 'During this week the kids have to work fast and the pace is totally different. But they definitely respond well.'

He added that the students benefited from working with a designer. 'It's been a huge confidence boost for the winners, especially. They are now head and shoulders above others in their class. It will definitely have a positive impact on their GCSE mark. The trip to IDEO reinforced the design process and also made it 'real' - I can't stress enough how the kids benefit from seeing how a designer and design practice work in the real world.'

Students

'We learnt practical things, like making a prototype before you make the final product and carefully planning your ideas out,' said Mohshin. 'We've also learnt how to think of the customer, the cost of the item and where it's going to be sold; and that being a designer is fun!'