Design Foundations

Year Level: Digital Technology

INCLUSION OF TE REO ME ONA TIKANGA MAORI

W.A.L.T for the lesson series

Success Criteria: We are successful when...

Vocabulary needed for this lesson series

Other Curriculum Areas

Key Competencies

Values

Digital Technology Achievement Objectives/Progress outcome

• Computational Thinking for Digital Technologies
• Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes

Overview

In this first lesson of the two-part unit “Innovations in Digital Design”, students explore what makes a digital product fit for purpose. They analyse real examples to identify design features linked to aesthetics, function, and user impact, then create a group design brief for a new digital product idea.

Learning intentions

• WALT investigate how digital media features communicate meaning in real products.
• WALT gather information from print/digital sources and sort notes into categories to support a design brief.
• WALT plan a fit-for-purpose design brief that considers user needs and intended impact.

Success criteria

• I can describe how a product’s features (text, images, audio/video, links) help users understand it.
• I can group my notes into clear categories such as aesthetics, function, and user impact.
• I can write a design brief that states: the user, the problem/need, the product idea, and what success looks like.

Curriculum links

• Technology (Nature of Technology / Technological Practice): evaluating existing products and using information to guide design decisions.
• English (Writing Processes / Planning): gather info from print/digital sources and organise it into categories.
• English (Comprehension / Digital media features): identify how digital media features such as images, audio, video, and hyperlinks communicate meaning.
• English (Writing to inform): introduce the topic clearly and group related information logically; use facts/details and domain-specific vocabulary (e.g., user, audience, interface, accessibility).

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

0. 0–5 min · Warm-up. Teacher leads a brief discussion to activate prior knowledge about digital products and design, asking students what they know and what they expect to learn.

1. 5–10 min · Stimulus hook. Teacher displays two short screenshots or printed examples of different digital products (e.g., a school learning app home screen and a weather information website page) and asks: “What do you notice first, and why?”

• Students quickly share one observation and one question about each product.

2. 10–20 min · Model product exploration. Teacher introduces a simple analysis lens: Aesthetics (look/feel), Function (how it works), Fit-for-purpose (does it meet needs), Digital features (images/audio/video/hyperlinks), and Impact (who benefits/how).

• Students do a “guided look” using a class example, adding 3–4 bullet notes on a shared template.

3. 20–35 min · Gather info in groups. Teacher allocates each group one product to examine (3–4 options around the room), ensuring a mix of interfaces (simple vs rich media) and clear/unclear navigation.

• Students scan the product on provided devices or printed pages, recording key details as notes.

4. 35–45 min · Categorise notes (planning). Teacher demonstrates how to sort raw notes into categories using colour labels or columns on a template.

• Students sort their group’s notes into the required categories (Aesthetics, Function, Fit-for-purpose, Digital features, Impact) and delete anything that doesn’t support the categories.

5. 45–60 min · Write a design brief and share. Teacher gives a brief-writing frame and models one example sentence for each section (User, Need/problem, Idea, Key features, Impact).

• Students draft their group design brief on chart paper or a shared doc. They must include at least one idea for each: digital features, user benefit, and how success will be shown.
• Teacher runs a quick “gallery walk” with one-minute observations per group, focusing on clarity and whether the brief matches user needs and intended impact.
• Students give one “Glow” and one “Grow” comment to another group’s design brief.

Resources

• 3–4 digital product examples (apps/webpages) appropriate for Year 6 access
• Devices with limited access or printed screenshots for analysis
• Group note-catchers with category headings (Aesthetics, Function, Fit-for-purpose, Digital features, Impact)
• Design brief template with sentence starters:
• “Our product is for…”
• “They need help with… because…”
• “Our product idea is…”
• “It will include… (digital features)”
• “If it works, it will… (impact/success)”
• Highlighters or coloured pencils for categorising
• Chart paper, markers, or shared classroom document space
• Teacher display example with worked notes

Assessment

• Teacher observation during group exploration: check that students identify digital media features and link them to function/fit-for-purpose.
• Formative check during categorising: are notes accurately sorted and relevant (not copied without understanding)?
• End-of-lesson design brief snapshot: quick validity check against the template (user, need, idea, key features, impact).

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters, word bank (user, audience, interface, navigation, accessibility, impact), and a worked example showing how to transform notes into categories.
• Support: allow students to record notes using icons or short phrases before writing the design brief.
• Challenge/extension: require an additional “accessibility/fit-for-purpose” feature (e.g., text size, clear headings, read-aloud audio) and justify why it improves the user experience.
• EAL/SEN: pre-teach vocabulary using visuals from the product examples; provide reduced choice of product links/pages; offer roles within groups (Reader, Note-catcher, Categoriser, Writer, Speaker).