The Core Concept
This project is a "Reverse Design Sprint". Instead of asking students to solve a problem, they are asked to create one. They must redesign an everyday object (like a spoon, chair, or door handle) so that it remains recognisable but becomes frustrating or impossible to use.
The Aims
Understanding through Inversion: By intentionally breaking the functionality of an object, students are forced to analyse exactly what makes the object work in the first place (ergonomics, balance, material choice).
Innovation Strategy: It introduces the concept of "Design from Discontent"—the practice of identifying user frustrations to drive innovation. Students learn this by manufacturing the frustration themselves.
Critical Analysis: The project moves beyond "making fun things" by requiring a final reflection. Students must articulate the specific design principles they violated and how restoring those principles creates good design.
PROJECT SLIDES/RESOURCES
SUGGESTED READING
The Design of Everyday Things
Author: Don Norman
Book Summary
The Design of Everyday Things is widely considered the bible of user-centred design. In this fundamental text, Norman argues that struggling with a product is rarely "user error," but a failure of design. He shifts the blame from the user to the designer, emphasising that good design must bridge the gap between human goals and physical systems.
Key Concepts
Affordances: Physical properties showing possible actions (e.g., a chair affords sitting).
Signifiers: Signals indicating where/how to interact (e.g., a flat plate signifies "push"). Note: This concept was heavily emphasised in the revised edition to clarify affordances.
Mapping: The relationship between controls and effects (e.g., steering right turns the car right).
Feedback: Immediate signals that an action has occurred (e.g., a click).
Conceptual Models: The user's mental image of how a device works.