Comparing your design with a real product
Design & Technology · Key Stage 1 · The School
A second way to judge your work
You already check your design against its criteria. There is another useful way too: compare it with a similar real product from a shop. A real purse, a real pencil case, a real bag. It shows you what "finished" really looks like.
Looking closely at both
Put your design next to the real product. Look at the edges. Look at how the parts join. Look at how it opens and closes. Real products are usually neater and stronger, because people who make them for a living have practised a great deal.
What the comparison teaches you
A comparison shows you a feature you never thought of. A real pencil case might have a small pocket for a rubber, which yours does not. You did not miss a requirement. You simply had not seen that idea yet.
Comparing a paper purse with a real one
Line up your paper purse next to a real shop-bought purse. Both close properly: a tie, and a real fastening, so they match there. The real purse has a stiff, reinforced edge along the top, so it keeps its shape. Yours is floppy there. The real purse has a small inside pocket for coins. Yours has none. Write down these two real differences. Now you have two specific, useful ideas for your next attempt, found simply by looking closely at something already finished well.
Choosing what to copy
You do not have to copy everything a real product does. Choose the one or two ideas that would help your own design most. Improving your work a little at a time, using real examples, is exactly what real designers do too.