L2 Design Overview

Your design must clearly show the purpose of your outcome and the requirements of your end users.

This may already be developed from your inquiry or proposal. However, it must be clearly included in your design section so it directly links to the outcome you are creating.

Your purpose explains the overall goal of your outcome.

Your requirements explain the specific things your outcome must do or include to be successful for your users. 

This section should be clear, specific, and directly linked to the outcome you are designing.

There are two ways you can complete this section:

Option 1: You completed the inquiry

Copy your purpose and end user requirements from your inquiry into your design section.

Then:

• check they still match what you intend to design and make

• update or refine anything that has changed

Option 2: You did not complete the inquiry

You will need to write your purpose and end user requirements now. You can go to the L2 Proposal page for more help.

Include:

• Purpose → What your outcome is trying to do or achieve

• End user requirements → What your outcome needs to have or do to meet the needs of your users

Design Sprint Task Breakdown

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. 

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?”

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 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.  

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

When researching these it can also be useful to look for "principles of <topic>" for example:

• https://www.thedesigngym.com/seven-principles-of-game-design-and-five-innovation-games-that-work/

• https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/understand-the-12-principles-of-animation

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.