Identifying User Needs

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📝 Overview

Unit Title: User Interface Design Journey
Lesson Title: Identifying User Needs and Problems
Lesson Number: 2 of 6
Year Level: Year 8
Subject: Digital Technologies
Duration: 50 minutes
Class Size: 19 students
Curriculum Reference (Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies Level 7-8):

• ACTDIP028: Investigate the role of hardware and software in managing, controlling and securing the movement of and access to data in networked digital systems.
• ACTDIP029: Design the user experience of a digital system by evaluating alternative designs against criteria, including functionality, accessibility, usability and aesthetics.
• ACTDIP030: Design algorithms represented diagrammatically and in English, and trace algorithms to predict output for a given input and to identify errors.

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🎯 Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand how user research contributes to design success.
• Conduct a mini user interview to explore real user needs.
• Analyse interview findings to define a clear, concise problem statement for use in the design process.

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💡 Success Criteria

Students will be successful when they:

• Ask meaningful, open-ended questions to uncover user needs.
• Identify specific issues or ‘pain points’ experienced by users.
• Create a clear problem statement that reflects both user needs and context.

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🧠 Prior Knowledge

Students have previously:

• Explored what User Interfaces (UIs) are.
• Looked at examples of good vs poor UI in everyday contexts.
• Discussed the impact of technology on user experience.

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📦 Materials Required

• Whiteboard & markers
• Sticky notes or small sheets of paper
• Devices for research (laptop/tablets - 1 per pair)
• Printed user persona cards (optional extension)
• A3 "User Interview Canvas" template (supplied by teacher)
• Project folders or digital workspace (Google Drive/OneNote/Class Notebook)

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⏰ Lesson Breakdown

Time	Activity	Description
0-5 min	Introduction & Lesson Goal	Welcome students. Recap last week’s exploration of UI. Introduce the day's focus: identifying real-world problems through user research.
5-10 min	Why Research is Key	Show two quick UI screenshots (e.g., an app with a confusing layout vs a user-friendly one). Ask: "Which is better? Why might it matter?"
10-25 min	User Interview Exercise	Students pair up. One plays ‘user’, one plays ‘designer’. They conduct short 5-7 minute interviews using the User Interview Canvas.
		Tip: Encourage thoughtful, open-ended questions. They can use school-based scenarios (e.g., difficulties with school apps/homework platforms).
25-30 min	Mind Map Brain Dump	After the interviews, each student writes down everything they’ve learned about their ‘user’ on sticky notes. Categorise into needs, wants, frustrations.
30-40 min	Define the Problem	Students write a Problem Statement using the following scaffold:
[User] needs a way to [solve problem] because [reason].
e.g., “Sam, a Year 8 student, needs a way to more easily check homework assignments across subjects because jumping between apps confuses him.”
40-45 min	Gallery Walk	Attach all problem statements to the wall. Students walk around, read them, and vote (3 sticky dot stickers or marker ticks) on the most compelling problems.
45-50 min	Wrap-Up & Reflect	Discuss: What did we notice about users? What makes a good problem statement? Set up expectations for next lesson: generating design ideas.

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👩‍🏫 Teacher Tips

• Push deeper: If student interviews are superficial, ask guiding questions like “Why do you think that is a problem for them?” or “What happens if that problem isn’t solved?”
• Use real context: Allow students to interview real users (e.g., classmates or staff) if appropriate, or introduce rich fictional user personas.
• Celebrate empathy: Reinforce the idea that great design begins with understanding the user — not jumping straight to solutions.

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📘 Differentiation Strategies

Student Need	Strategy
EAL/D students	Provide visual aids and sentence stems for problem statement structure.
High-achievers	Challenge students to interview a different demographic (e.g., adults).
Students with learning support needs	Pair with strong communicators, provide printed scaffolded templates.

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📥 Assessment Opportunities

• Formative: Observation during interviews and gallery walk discussions.
• Summative (informal): Completed Problem Statement (quality of articulation, relevance, empathy).
• Upload problem statements to digital portfolios or class folder for future reference in the UI development process.

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🔁 Homework / Extension

Optional Extension: Interview a family member/friend about a tech frustration they’ve had.
Write a new problem statement for practice, to bring to next class.

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🔗 Links to Future Learning

This lesson feeds directly into Lesson 3: Ideation and Sketching, where students will begin developing wireframe ideas to solve the user problem they’ve identified today.

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🧩 Connections to General Capabilities

• Critical and Creative Thinking: Analysing interview data and formulating clear problem statements.
• Personal and Social Capability: Building empathy and perspective-taking.
• ICT Capability: Using research tools and recording findings effectively.

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🚀 Enrichment Suggestion

Introduce a version of "empathy mapping" next lesson to deepen students’ understanding of their user persona’s context. This can feed directly into the user-centric wireframing process.

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🧭 Exit Ticket Prompt

“Write down one thing you learnt about someone else’s experience with technology today that surprised you.”

Collect as they walk out to assess depth of insight and engagement.

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📚 Teacher Reflection Questions (Post-Lesson)

1. Which problem statements demonstrated a deep understanding of user pain points?
2. Did all students engage meaningfully with the interview process?
3. What scaffolding or supports helped students most?
4. Are students beginning to show signs of user-centred thinking?

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