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He iti te mokoroa, nāna i kati te kahikatea
The mokoroa (grub) may be small, but it cuts through the Kahikatea
Design is the stage where you turn your proposal into a clear, user-focused plan that shows what you are going to make, why it matters, and how it will look and function. A strong design helps you make informed decisions early, consider relevant implications, and use conventions that suit your outcome type—so your development time is spent building with purpose, not guessing and redoing work.
2d ⟹ 3d
Sketches ⟹ Computer generated
A little colour ⟹ Fully rendered
Purpose & End User Requirements
Purpose & End User Requirements
You should already have the purpose and end users from your proposal.
You need to copy and paste them in to the design part of your doc. You may need to adjust if something has changed.
Design Planning
Design Planning
DESIGN SPRINT | Pitch your Idea!
Break down design sprint into smaller tasks to help you manage your time.
The goal of the design sprint:
Should define the vision
Include key features
Is visually modelled, digitally or physically
A design that is well thought out & refined
Design is Presented - imagine what would be needed if it was a dragons den
The design should address how the outcome will function and look.
What are your tasks?
What are your tasks?
Above is an example of what this sprint may look like, you can also include dates to help you keep track. You should be actively moving your cards along to stay on track.
Once you have all the tasks for the sprint take a screen shot and put in under the planning heading in design.
Then at the end of the sprint you take another screen shot to show what was completed and anything still left to do.
Relevant implications
Relevant implications
A relevant implication is a possible effect or consequence of your project that directly connects to what you are designing and who it impacts. It isn’t something generic or unrelated — it must clearly apply to your specific outcome, audience, and context.
These implications must be considered and addressed in your design decisions. That means you don’t just identify them — you show how they influence what you create, how it works, how it looks, and how it is used.
When identifying relevant implications, think about areas such as:
Legal (copyright, attribution, intellectual property, Privacy Act)
Ethical (fairness, bias, representation, consequences of design decisions)
Social & Cultural (inclusive language, sensitivity, audience expectations)
End-user considerations (functionality, usability, accessibility, health & safety)
Sustainability & future-proofing (longevity, updates, relevance over time)
The key question to ask is:
If I ignore this implication, who could be negatively affected and how?
Strong projects don’t just work — they demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the wider impacts and responsibilities of digital creation.
A relevant implication should:
Connect clearly to the type of outcome
Influence at least one design decision
Consider who is affected
“What could go wrong, who could be affected, and what will I do in my design to address this?”
3D Modelling
Technical / Practical
Scale accuracy (will it actually fit?)
Poly count optimisation (performance)
Legal
Using reference models appropriately
Intellectual property of character designs
Animation
Cultural
Respectful portrayal of groups or traditions
Avoiding tokenism or harmful tropes
Legal
Use of music, fonts, stock footage
Consent if filming real people
Ethical
Misinformation in documentary-style content
Emotional manipulation
Health & Safety
Flashing imagery
Loud audio levels
Audio Visual (short film, video etc)
Core conventions
Film genre conventions
Relevant composition methods
Editing conventions
Audio mixing conventions
Visual hierarchy
Also relevant
Typography conventions (if titles/subtitles)
Copyright / attribution conventions
Design for Manufacture (DFM)
Health & Safety
Product safety compliance
Ergonomics
Environmental
Material choice (plastic vs sustainable materials)
Repairability
Sustainability
Material use (if manufactured)
Waste from failed prints
Safety
Sharp edges or unsafe forms (if physical product)
Legal
Product standards or safety regulations
Electronic Device (with housing)
Safety
Electrical hazards
Overheating risks
Battery safety
Sustainability
Component disposal
Energy efficiency
Legal
Compliance standards
Privacy if collecting data
Graphic & Digital Design
Social
Inclusivity in imagery and language
Tone appropriate for audience
Accessibility
Font readability
Colour contrast
Print legibility
Ethical
Persuasive design vs manipulation
Accuracy of information
Programming / Software
Privacy
Collecting user data
Data storage security
Ethical
Algorithm bias
Transparency of decision-making
Usability
Clear error messages
Fail-safe systems
Website / Web App
Core conventions
Usability heuristics (UI/UX)
Visual hierarchy
Web accessibility conventions
Naming conventions (CSS classes, files)
Responsive design conventions
Also relevant
Information architecture conventions
Data modelling (if database driven)
Video Game
Social / Ethical
Representation of gender, culture, or identity
Violence, age appropriateness, or stereotypes
Addictive mechanics or manipulative reward systems
Health & Safety
Flashing effects (epilepsy risk)
Excessive screen time design
Motion sickness in 3D environments
Accessibility
Adjustable controls
Subtitles for dialogue
Colourblind-friendly palettes
Legal
Copyrighted music/assets
Age ratings (e.g. PEGI)
If you are designing a website or digital interface, accessibility is a key implication. You should review the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure your outcome can be used by a wide range of people:
WCAG overview: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
Short WCAG video explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kUBeje9lb0
Additional useful resources for students:
W3C “Introduction to Web Accessibility”: https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/
WebAIM accessibility principles: https://webaim.org/intro/
Nielsen Norman Group usability heuristics (clear, practical UX guidance): https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
For websites check WCAG guidelines (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines & Video
Research
Research
Research provides us with the information and knowledge needed for problem solving and making decisions. It can help you to innovate and introduce new products and services or to improve existing offerings.
To begin with it gives you a starting point when designing and an understanding of what you need to be considering along the way. This allows you to design an outcome that is well thought out and minimise the issues you could come across when you develop the outcome.
As part of your research you should:
investigate conventions / principles for the area
investigate a range of existing solutions
find tutorials, people or experts who able to help you with your project
understand what equipment and software you will be using and if there maybe any limititions you need to factor in
what materials you have access to
reference materials that you can look at for inspiration
Note: If you have undertaken an inquiry you may have already looked into some of these areas. If you have, use that previous work, however if you have gaps then do a little more research.
Conventions
Conventions
Conventions are agreed-upon standards, customs, or accepted ways of doing things within a particular context that help ensure consistency, clarity, and shared understanding. They are not formal laws, but common practices that guide how something should be created, presented, or behaved within a field or community.
You need to understand which conventions will be most suited to the type of outcome you are designing.
Click on the following to get more specific information about that convention:
usability heuristics - should look at for UI (Anything a user uses to interact with a computer)
visual hierarchy
Design elements / design principles
game design conventions
film genre conventions
system block diagrams
relevant composition methods
schematic diagram conventions
circuit schematics with component symbols
scale drawings of enclosures
naming conventions and naming schemes
object-relationship mapping and data modelling.
Quick Summary
Quick Summary
If users interact with it → look at usability heuristics + visual hierarchy
If it tells a story → look at genre + composition conventions
If it’s built physically → look at scale drawings + schematic conventions
If it runs on code → look at naming + structure + data modelling
If it communicates visually → look at design principles + layout + typography
3D Modelling
Core conventions
Scale and proportion standards
Topology conventions (clean geometry, edge flow)
File naming conventions
Export conventions (file formats, poly count expectations)
Texture mapping conventions (UV mapping standards)
If for games
Performance conventions (optimised meshes)
Game asset pipeline conventions
Animation
Core conventions
Film genre conventions
Relevant composition methods (rule of thirds, framing, pacing)
Visual hierarchy (what the audience should focus on)
Design principles (contrast, balance, rhythm, movement)
Naming conventions (file structure, assets, scenes)
Also relevant
Storyboarding conventions
Editing conventions (cuts, transitions, timing)
Audio-visual synchronisation conventions
Audio Visual (short film, video etc)
Core conventions
Film genre conventions
Relevant composition methods
Editing conventions
Audio mixing conventions
Visual hierarchy
Also relevant
Typography conventions (if titles/subtitles)
Copyright / attribution conventions
Design for Manufacture (DFM)
Core conventions
Scale drawings of enclosures
Dimensioning standards
Tolerances
System block diagrams
Manufacturing constraints conventions
Also relevant
CAD drawing standards
Assembly diagrams
Material specifications conventions
Electronic Device (with housing)
Core conventions
Circuit schematic conventions
Component symbols
System block diagrams
Scale drawings of enclosure
Naming conventions (pins, variables, files)
Also relevant
Safety standards
Power management conventions
PCB layout conventions
Graphic & Digital Design
Core conventions
Design elements & principles
Visual hierarchy
Layout/grid conventions
Typography conventions
Colour theory conventions
Also relevant
Print production conventions (bleed, margins, resolution)
Branding consistency conventions
Programming / Software
Core conventions
Naming conventions & schemes
Object-relationship mapping / data modelling
System block diagrams
Code structure conventions (modular design, comments)
Input/process/output conventions
Also relevant
UI heuristics (if user-facing)
Error handling conventions
Website / Web App
Core conventions
Usability heuristics (UI/UX)
Visual hierarchy
Web accessibility conventions
Naming conventions (CSS classes, files)
Responsive design conventions
Also relevant
Information architecture conventions
Data modelling (if database driven)
Video Game
Core conventions
Game design conventions (genre patterns, mechanics, feedback loops)
Usability heuristics (menus, controls, HUD clarity)
Visual hierarchy (UI readability)
Naming conventions (files, assets, scripts)
Object-relationship mapping (if using player data, scoring systems, inventory etc.)
Also relevant
Audio conventions (feedback sounds, music cues)
Level design flow conventions
Interaction conventions (input/output patterns)
When researching these it can also be useful to look for "principles of <topic>" for example:
Existing Outcomes
Existing Outcomes
Before you design your own solution, it’s important to understand what already exists. Researching existing outcomes helps you avoid reinventing the wheel, learn from strengths and weaknesses, and identify gaps or opportunities to improve. It gives you insight into what users expect, what works well in practice, and where others may have struggled.
When analysing existing outcomes, look beyond whether you “like” them. Examine:
Purpose and audience – Who is it for? Does it meet their needs well?
Functionality – Does it work reliably? Is it easy to use?
Design and presentation – How do layout, visuals, structure, or composition guide the user?
Conventions and standards – What accepted practices are being followed?
Strengths and limitations – What could be improved or done differently?
Your goal isn’t to copy, but to gather insight. Strong research into existing outcomes helps you justify your own decisions and design something that is purposeful, thoughtful, and fit for its context.
How the Design Phase may look
How the Design Phase may look
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