Design Briefs and Task Analysis

Start with a product idea

The flowchart The Box brings together function, appearance, cost, materials and the client. It is a useful starting point for seeing how design decisions can be grouped around a product. Follow its branches and note the points you would want to consider in your own task.

Next, look at the mind map about space-saving furniture. It describes a product that can fold or collapse for storage while still functioning as furniture. Compare those needs with the considerations in The Box.

Explore a brief and its questions

The mind map about the Alzheimer project organizes a brief around the project type, clients, objectives, target market and deliverables. Use those headings to see how a brief can set out who a project is for and what it needs to address.

Several maps titled Task Analysis take different approaches. One groups research sources alongside manufacturing methods and software. Others ask questions about cost and materials. Look at more than one to see how the questions change with the design task.

Use maps for practice

For practice, cover the branches of a map and write down the questions you remember. Then open the branches and compare them with your list. Teachers can use the maps as examples when asking students to identify questions for a design task.

There are no quizzes listed on this topic page, but you can use a map to write your own quiz questions. The maps and flowchart connect this section to the wider unit in Design and technology by showing ways to examine a brief and organize a task. Choose a mind map and, with a free account, turn its questions into your own quiz.