Tock's Design Lab
Solve real problems for real people.
What is design thinking?
Design thinking is a way of solving problems for real people, one careful step at a time.
Designers don't start with a clever gadget. They start with a person who has a problem. They find out what that person needs, think of lots of ideas, build a quick version and test it. Then they make it better.
AI can make a thousand pictures in a minute. It can't sit beside your friend and notice that her lunchbox is hard to open. That part is yours. This book gives you eight design skills.
How this book works
Every chapter has the same four parts.
- Read it. One big idea, with pictures.
- Try it. An activity you play right here on the screen.
- Away from the screen. A game for paper, pencils and friends.
- Quick check. Three questions. Get them all right to earn a star.
There are 9 stars to collect. Got a question wrong? No problem. Read the hint and have another go. That's how thinkers learn.
Choose a chapter
Chapter 1 · Design skill one
Spot a problem
Look around. Almost everything you can see was designed by somebody: your chair, your zip, your water bottle, the door handle.
Each of those things is an answer to a problem. A zip answers "buttons take too long". A handle answers "this door is hard to grip". Before there was a design, there was a person who noticed that something was annoying, slow, unsafe or unfair.
So the first design skill is simply noticing. Designers collect problems the way other people collect stickers.
Every design answers a problem. Read the problem and pick the design that solves it.
At school: where this helps
Spotting a problem is how science investigations and technology projects begin. A clear problem is half the work.
Away from the screen: the bug list
You need: paper, a pencil and ten minutes of walking around
Walk around your home or classroom like a detective. Write down ten things that bug people: things that are fiddly, slow, messy, hard to reach or easy to lose. Put a star next to the three that bother people most. Keep this list. You'll use it again.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 2 · Design skill two
Step into their shoes
You are not designing for yourself. You are designing for someone else. Designers call that person the user.
The user might be shorter than you, older than you, left-handed, in a hurry, or new to the school. To design well, you have to find out what it is like to be them.
An open question can't be answered with yes or no. It starts with words like how, why, what, or "tell me about". Open questions get stories, and stories are full of clues.
Is each question open (it gets a story) or closed (it gets one word)?
Away from the screen: the lunchbox interview
You need: a partner, paper and a pencil
Interview someone about their lunchbox or school bag. Write five open questions first. Listen more than you talk. Afterwards, write down one thing that surprised you. Surprises are where good designs come from.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 3 · Design skill three
Ask 'How might we?'
Now you know your user. Next, say exactly what the problem is, in one sentence.
Designers use a simple pattern:
Who needs a way to do what, because why.
For example: "Year 1 students need a way to find their own hat quickly, because the hat tub is a jumble." That sentence has a person, a need and a reason.
Then turn it into a question that starts with How might we…? "How might we help Year 1 students find their own hat quickly?" Those three words say there are many possible answers and we can find one together.
Where would you even start?
That is already the answer.
Sort each "How might we" question.
Away from the screen: write your own
You need: your bug list from chapter 1
Pick one starred problem from your bug list. Write it as "Who needs a way to do what, because why." Then turn it into a "How might we…?" question. Read it to someone. Can they think of two different answers? Then it is just right.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 4 · Design skill four
Think of lots of ideas
Your first idea is almost never your best idea. It is just the first one to arrive.
So designers go for lots. Ten ideas. Twenty. Silly ones too. A silly idea often has a smart idea hiding inside it.
Brainstorming has three rules. Go for quantity. Don't judge yet. Build on other people's ideas by saying "Yes, and…" instead of "No, but…".
Press the button to mix a thing with a twist. Most mixes are silly. Keep the ones that give you a real idea. Can you keep five?
Away from the screen: eight in eight
You need: one sheet of paper, a pencil and a timer
Fold a sheet of paper in half three times, then open it. You have eight boxes. Set a timer for eight minutes and sketch one different idea in each box for your "How might we" question. No rubbing out. Stick figures are perfect.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 5 · Design skill five
Choose with a reason
You have lots of ideas. You can only build one first. How do you choose? Not by voting for your best friend's idea.
Designers choose with criteria: a short list of what the solution must do. It must be safe. It must be easy for the user. You must be able to build it with what you have.
Limits like time, money and materials are called constraints. Constraints are not the enemy. They make you more inventive.
Then score each idea out of 5 for each criterion and add up the scores. This is called a decision grid.
| Idea | Easy for Year 1 | Cheap | Quick to build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture labels on hooks | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| Hat-finding robot | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Colour tubs for each table | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
Add up each idea's scores. Then you'll see which one wins.
Away from the screen: your decision grid
You need: your eight ideas, paper and a ruler
Choose your three favourite ideas from "eight in eight". Write three criteria that matter to your user. Draw a grid, score each idea out of 5, and add up the totals. Circle the winner. Are you surprised?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 6 · Design skill six
Build a quick model
Don't talk about your idea for a week. Build a rough version in fifteen minutes.
A prototype is not the finished thing. It is a question you can hold in your hands: "Does this work?" Paper, cardboard, tape, string and blocks are perfect. Rough is good. If it looks too finished, people are too polite to tell you what's wrong with it.
Which quick prototype would answer the question best?
At school: measuring and scale
A model is often smaller than the real thing. If 1 cm on your model stands for 10 cm in real life, a 150 cm bench becomes a 15 cm model. That is called working to scale.
Away from the screen: fifteen-minute build
You need: recycled card, paper, tape, scissors and a timer
Build your winning idea from scraps in fifteen minutes. When the timer rings, stop, even if it is wobbly. Write one question on a sticky note that you want your prototype to answer.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 7 · Design skill seven
Test and listen
Give your prototype to your user. Then do the hardest thing in design: stay quiet and watch.
Don't explain it. Don't defend it. If they hold it upside down, that's not their mistake. That's a clue. Write down what they do and what they say.
Then ask for feedback with three easy sentence starters.
Helpful feedback is specific. "It's bad" doesn't help anyone. "I wish the strap was longer, because it slipped off my shoulder" tells the designer exactly what to fix.
Is each piece of feedback helpful to a designer, or not helpful yet?
Away from the screen: three testers
You need: your prototype, three people and a notebook
Ask three people to try your prototype. Say only, "Please try this, and think out loud." Write down one "I like", one "I wish" and one "I wonder" from each person. Look for anything two people said. That's the first thing to fix.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 8 · Design skill eight
Try again, better
Version 1 is never the last version. Designers go around the loop again and again.
Each lap is called an iteration. Change something, test it, see what happened. A test that goes badly isn't a failure. It is information you didn't have before.
How do you know the new version is really better? You measure. How far did it fly? How many seconds did it take? How many testers could use it without help? Numbers stop you fooling yourself.
Tock's plane needs to fly 12 metres. Change the wing length or the number of paperclips on the nose, then test. Try changing one thing at a time.
Away from the screen: three planes
You need: three sheets of paper, a tape measure and some floor
Fold a paper plane and throw it three times. Measure each flight and write down the longest. Now change one thing only, such as the wing tips or a paperclip on the nose. Test again. Make three versions and record them in a table. Which change helped most?
Quick checkEarn your star
The last chapter · Put it all together
The big design challenge
You now have all eight design skills. Here they are, with the question each one asks.
| Skill | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Spot a problem | What is bugging people here? |
| Step into their shoes | What is it like to be them? |
| Ask "How might we?" | Who needs what, and why? |
| Think of lots of ideas | What else could we try? |
| Choose with a reason | Which idea fits our criteria best? |
| Build a quick model | What is the fastest way to try this? |
| Test and listen | What did the user do and say? |
| Try again, better | What will I change in the next version? |
Before you start, show what you know. Answer all ten questions to earn your last star and your certificate.
Final testTen questions, every skill
Certificate of Design Thinking
This certificate is proudly given to
for learning to understand people, imagine ideas, build, test and improve.
Look it up
Word bank
Every big word in this book, in plain language.
- Brainstorm
- Coming up with as many ideas as you can before judging any of them.
- Constraint
- A limit you have to work within, such as time, money or materials.
- Criteria
- The things a good solution must do.
- Decision grid
- A table for scoring ideas against criteria.
- Design
- Planning and making something to solve a problem for someone.
- Empathy
- Understanding how someone else feels and what they need.
- Fair test
- A test where you change only one thing at a time.
- Feedback
- What people tell you, or show you, about how well your idea works.
- Iterate
- To improve something by making a new version, testing it, and doing that again.
- Open question
- A question that can't be answered with yes or no.
- Problem statement
- One clear sentence that says who needs what, and why.
- Prototype
- A quick, cheap first version you build to test an idea.
- Scale
- Making a model smaller or bigger than the real thing by the same amount everywhere.
- User
- The person you are designing for.
Parents, carers and teachers
Notes for grown-ups
Design thinking is a people-first way of solving problems: understand the person, define the need, imagine many options, make a rough version and test it. As AI gets better at producing answers, the skills of noticing the right problem and caring about the person it affects matter more.
The book works best with a real project running alongside it. The off-screen activities chain together: the bug list in chapter 1 feeds every later chapter. Expect mess, cardboard and several versions.
How to use the book
- One chapter per sitting. Each takes about 15 to 25 minutes, plus the off-screen activity.
- Ages 7 to 8 will get more from it with someone reading alongside. Ages 9 to 12 can usually work alone.
- Chapters build on each other, so going in order works best.
- Wrong answers are part of it. Every quiz question explains itself and can be tried again.
- Stars are saved in this browser on this device. Clearing browser data may reset them.
What each chapter covers
| Chapter | Idea | Where it helps at school |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Spot a problem | Noticing needs and opportunities | Design and technologies, science questions |
| 2. Step into their shoes | Empathy, observing, open questions | Speaking and listening, interviews |
| 3. Ask "How might we?" | Defining the problem clearly | Writing clear sentences, planning investigations |
| 4. Think of lots of ideas | Divergent thinking, brainstorming | Creative writing, combinations in maths |
| 5. Choose with a reason | Criteria, constraints, decision grids | Addition, comparing totals, tables |
| 6. Build a quick model | Prototyping | Measurement, scale, 3D shapes |
| 7. Test and listen | Feedback and fair tests | Science fair testing, recording results |
| 8. Try again, better | Iteration and measuring improvement | Measuring length, graphs, comparing data |