L3 - Design Overview

L3 Project Management

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L3 Design Ideas

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

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 and guides your design decisions.

Your purpose explains the overall goal of your outcome.

Your end user requirements explain what your users need to be able to do, achieve, or experience when using your outcome (their goals, tasks, and needs) — not just a list of features.

These requirements will be used to:

choose appropriate user experience (UX) methodologies
create testing tasks for modelling and user testing
justify design decisions and show improvements based on evidence

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

Task #1 - Write the Purpose and Requirements of the End Users

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
ensure the requirements are written from the user’s point of view (needs/goals/tasks)

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 L3 Proposal page for more help.

Include:

Purpose → what your outcome is trying to achieve (for who, and why)
End user requirements → what users need your outcome to enable, support, or make easy (their goals/tasks/needs)

Website Example

Purpose: To create a website that helps junior students learn basic coding concepts through interactive examples and clear progression.

End user requirements:

Users can find what they need quickly with consistent navigation and clear page structure
Key concepts are explained with examples and visuals that reduce cognitive load
Interactive activities give immediate feedback so users know what to fix or try next
The site is accessible and usable on mobile, with readable text and clear contrast

Game Example

Purpose: To create an engaging platformer game for casual teenage players that teaches mechanics through play and increases challenge over time.

End user requirements:

Controls feel responsive and learnable, with clear in-game guidance early on
Difficulty increases in a fair, predictable way (challenge without frustration spikes)
Players receive clear feedback (health, checkpoints, success/failure cues)
Visuals and sound support gameplay by making hazards, goals, and interactions easy to recognise

Product Example

Purpose: To design a desk organiser that helps students keep their workspace tidy while being practical to manufacture.

End user requirements:

Items can be stored and retrieved quickly and safely (stable, doesn’t tip easily)
The organiser fits a standard desk space and suits typical school items
The design is durable for everyday use and can withstand knocks/drops
The product can be manufactured accurately using the chosen process (clear tolerances, appropriate materials, realistic print/cut time)

Design Planning

DESIGN SPRINT | Pitch your Idea!

Break down your design sprint into smaller tasks to help you manage your time.

The goal of the design sprint:

Clearly define the purpose and end users
Identify end user requirements (what users need to do/achieve/experience)
Select and apply relevant user experience (UX) methodologies
Generate and model a range of design ideas
Improve ideas using modelling and user testing data
Select and justify a final design that is ready to build

Your design should clearly show how the outcome will function and look, and be ready to build.

Design Sprint Task Breakdown

Existing Outcomes + UX Research

Copy existing outcomes research into the design section (if already done)
Identify 2–3 useful strengths/features from existing outcomes
Identify common issues or gaps (what doesn’t work well for users)
Pull out key insights that will influence your design (layout, navigation, controls, feedback, readability, flow)

User Experience Methodologies

Choose 2–3 UX methodologies that suit your outcome and use them in your design work. For example:

personas / primary + extreme users
user journey / task flow
user stories
information architecture (site map, navigation structure)
wireframes / prototypes (paper or digital)
heuristic checks (usability rules)
task-based user testing / think-aloud testing

Then:

explain why you chose these methods for your project
use them to guide your ideas and design decisions

Idea 1

Create design idea 1
Label or annotate idea 1
Show how idea 1 will function (flow/interaction/behaviour)
Show how idea 1 will look (layout/style/visual direction)

Idea 2

Create design idea 2
Label or annotate idea 2
Show how idea 2 will function
Show how idea 2 will look

Idea 3

Create design idea 3
Label or annotate idea 3
Show how idea 3 will function
Show how idea 3 will look

Modelling + User Testing

Test your ideas with a range of people (target users where possible)
Use task-based testing (give them something to try, not just “do you like it?”)
Record what happened (what worked, what confused users, what slowed them down)
Identify the most useful feedback/data to guide improvements

Idea Decision Point

Compare your ideas against purpose and end user requirements
Identify strengths and weaknesses of each idea using evidence from testing/modelling
Choose a direction to develop further (this may combine parts of multiple ideas)

Refinement

Focus on specific parts of your design — don’t try to refine everything at once.

Decide which parts of each idea are worth keeping
Combine the strongest parts
Identify specific aspects to develop further (e.g., layout, colour, interaction, animation, UI, mechanics, materials)
Test and refine these parts using your UX methods and user testing data
Check the design still meets end user requirements
Check the design is realistic to build within the timeframe/tools

Final Design

Produce your final design
Add labels or annotations to show key decisions
Show clearly how it will function
Show clearly how it will look
Explain why this is the best option for purpose and end users
Explain how UX methodologies informed and improved the design
Explain how relevant implications have been considered
Briefly state how the design could be developed further in the future

Task #2 - Set up your Design tasks

Open your Trello Design Board and add all the tasks you need to complete for the design sprint including UX methodology tasks and user testing. Use the Design Sprint Task Breakdown above to help you decide what tasks to include.

Break the design process into small, manageable cards rather than a few large tasks. At Level 3, your cards should make it clear what evidence you’ll gather (e.g., modelling notes, user test results, or feedback) and how you’ll use it to improve the design. For example, instead of writing “do ideas”, create separate cards such as:

create design idea 1
label idea 1
show how idea 1 will function
show how idea 1 will look

Your board should include tasks for:

existing outcomes and user experience methodologies
idea generation
feedback
choosing a direction
modelling + user testing (task-based)
refinement
more feedback
final design
design evaluation + justification

Use the suggested timeline below to help you decide what should be completed each week. As you work, move your cards across the board from To Do → Doing → Done so your progress is clear and easy to track.

Week 1 – Understanding + Starting Ideas

Add purpose and end user requirements
success criteria (how you’ll know requirements are met)
Review existing outcomes and user experience methodologies (copy if already done)
Identify useful features
Create idea 1 (and possibly idea 2)

Week 2 – Generating Ideas + Feedback

Complete idea 2 and idea 3
Show how each idea works and looks
Gather task-based user testing feedback on all ideas (record what users did, where they got stuck, and what they preferred)
Start identifying a direction to develop

Week 3 – Refinement

Choose a direction (may combine ideas)
Use evidence from testing/modelling to make specific improvements (show before/after)
Refine your design using feedback
Explore specific aspects (e.g. layout, colour, mechanics, animation, UI)
Get feedback on these specific elements
Continue improving your design

Week 4 – Final Design

Produce your final design
Clearly show how it works and looks
Add labels/annotations
Explain why your design is appropriate
Show how UX methodologies, relevant conventions, and implications have been considered
And add (if space):
Justify why the final design is the best fit for purpose + end users

Trello Tips

You can set up labels if you want to help you with breaking each task down
You can add dates and set reminders

Task #3 - Evidence

Take a screenshot or gif (using screen to gif) of your board:

at the start of your design sprint and put it under Design planning
at the end of your design sprint and put it after your Appropriateness of Design

This should show how your managed your time and completed a sucessful Design Phase

Relevant Implications

A relevant implication is a possible effect of a project/assessment that is actually related to your project.

This area has to be addressed in your own design.

For websites check WCAG guidelines (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines & Video

Relevant Implications Poster

Task #4 - Identify and explain your relevant implications

Using the information above, choose the implications that are most relevant to your project and complete the table in your document.

You do not need to cover every implication listed. Instead, select the ones that are most important for your specific outcome, audience, and context.

For each implication you choose:

write the implication
decide its priority (High / Medium / Low)
explain why it is relevant to your project
explain what you need to consider in your design and how you will address it

Choose implications that will actually affect the way you design your outcome. For example, these might influence:

how it functions
how it looks
how easy it is to use
how accessible it is
how safe, appropriate, or respectful it is for your users

Aim to identify the implications that will have the biggest impact on your design decisions. Your explanations should be specific to your project, not just general definitions.

Relevant Implications Example

Research User Experience Methodologies

User Experience (UX) methodologies are the set of techniques and approaches used to understand and improve the user experience of a product, service, or system. Here are some of the commonly used UX methodologies:

User Research: This methodology involves studying the users' behavior, needs, and motivations through techniques such as surveys, interviews, and observations.
Usability Testing (or Usability Evaluation): This involves testing the usability of a product or system by observing users as they perform tasks and measuring their performance.
Information Architecture: This methodology involves organizing information and content in a logical and easy-to-use way, usually through techniques such as user flows and sitemaps. IA is used in physical spaces like museums or department stores, as well as in websites and applications.
Interaction Design: This involves designing the interactions between the user and the product or system, such as the design of buttons, forms, and other interactive elements.
Visual Design: This methodology involves the creation of visual elements that make up the user interface, such as color, typography, and layout.
User Interface Design (UI): This is the process designers use to build interfaces in software or computerized devices, focusing on looks or style.
User Persona Creation: This involves creating fictional user profiles that represent the different types of users that a product or system may have.
Agile Methodology: This involves breaking down development into smaller, more manageable parts and testing and iterating on those parts frequently.
Lean UX: This methodology involves quickly prototyping and testing ideas in order to validate assumptions and improve the user experience.
Content strategy: This is a high-level plan that guides the intentional creation and maintenance of information in a digital product.
Accessibility: is the concept of whether a product or service can be used by everyone—however they encounter it. Accessibility laws exist to aid people with disabilities, but designers should try to accommodate all potential users in many contexts of use anyway.

These methodologies can be used individually or in combination to create a comprehensive UX design process that leads to better user experiences.

Task #5 - Research User Experience Methodologies

You will choose 2–3 user experience (UX) methodologies that suit your outcome, end users, and context. Your goal is to select methods that will help you generate ideas, model designs, and gather useful user testing evidence.

Option 1: You completed the inquiry

Copy your UX methodology section from your inquiry into your design section.

Then:

check the methodologies still match what you intend to build
refine your choices to 2–3 best-fit methods
add a short note explaining how you will use each method during design (ideas, modelling, and testing)

Option 2: You did not complete the inquiry

Use the list above to choose 2–3 methodologies.

For each chosen methodology, include:

What it is (1–2 sentences in your own words)
Why it fits your project (link to your purpose and end user requirements)
How you will use it in your design sprint (e.g., to generate ideas, model layouts/flows, plan user tests, or evaluate usability)

What good looks like (quick check)

By the end, you should have:

2–3 UX methodologies selected
a clear reason for each choice (purpose + users)
a clear plan for how each will be applied in your design work

Research Existing Outcomes

Research provides you with the information and knowledge needed for problem solving and decision-making. At Level 3, this is about more than inspiration — it helps you make justified design choices by learning what works well for users, what causes issues, and what patterns or approaches are effective in your context.

To begin with, it gives you a starting point when designing and a clearer understanding of what you need to consider along the way. This helps you create a design that is well thought out, realistic to build, and aligned with end user requirements.

You should investigate:

a range of existing outcomes that are relevant to your project
what works well for users (and why)
what doesn’t work well (and why)
common UX patterns or conventions in your context (layout, navigation, interaction, feedback, readability, flow)
tools, materials, and constraints that could affect your build
ideas you might adapt, and choices you will avoid (with reasons)

Task #6 - Research existing outcomes

Choose a range of existing outcomes that are relevant to your project and record what you learn from them in your document.

There are two ways you can complete this section:

Option 1 – You completed the inquiry

Copy your existing outcomes research into your design section
Check that it still matches your current idea
Update or refine it if needed (especially anything that affects user experience or feasibility)

Option 2 – You did not complete the inquiry

Research existing outcomes that are similar to what you want to create
Record the most useful findings in your document (focus on what will influence your design decisions)

What to include

For each existing outcome you choose, identify:

what it is
who it is for (target users)
what works well for users (be specific)
what could be improved (and why)
what ideas, features, or approaches you will take into your own design
what UX patterns/conventions you notice (layout, navigation, interaction, feedback, tone/visual style)
any relevant constraints you can spot (platform, accessibility, performance, materials, complexity)

Helpful reminder: Do not just describe existing outcomes. Explain what you learned from them and how this will influence your design decisions.

You can either write small paragraphs or do a table following a similar format

Tip: When you write “works well” or “could be improved”, try to mention why (e.g., navigation, clarity, feedback, accessibility, performance) rather than only listing features.

How the Design Phase looks

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