Before you build, DEFINE the problem — your CRITERIA (the goals) and your CONSTRAINTS (the limits).
📋Two Lists Every Brief Needs
🍱 The brief: Design a lunchbox for a 5th grader. List what it must DO (your criteria) and the LIMITS you must stay inside (your constraints).
🎯CRITERIA
The GOALS — how you'll know it's a success
❄️ Keeps food cold until lunchtime
👜 Easy to carry & open
🌈 Looks fun & cool
✅ Aim FOR these — they make it good
🚧CONSTRAINTS
The LIMITS — rules you can't break
💲 Costs under $10 to make
🎒 Must fit in a backpack
🛡️ Safe & non-toxic materials
⛔ Stay WITHIN these — they set the boundaries
⚖️Trade-Offs: You Can't Max Out Everything
Cheaper materials are usually weaker; stronger ones cost more. A trade-off is the smart compromise that meets your most important criteria and stays inside your constraints.
🍱Concept in Real Life: Did It Solve the Problem?
🔎 Test it against BOTH lists
Criteria met? Cold ❄️, easy to carry 👜, and fun 🌈 — yes!
Constraints kept? Only $9, fits the backpack, safe materials — yes!
A good solution scores high on criteria while never breaking a constraint.
🔑Key Terms
🎯CriteriaThe goals a design must reach to count as a success — what it should DO.
🚧ConstraintA limit you must stay inside, like time, size, materials, or money.
⚖️Trade-offGiving up a little of one goal to gain more of another when they pull against each other.
📝Problem StatementOne clear sentence saying exactly what problem you are trying to solve, and for whom.
💲BudgetThe amount of money (a kind of constraint) you are allowed to spend.
✅RequirementA single must-have on your list — one specific criterion or constraint to check off.
⭐Remember: criteria are the goals you aim FOR, constraints are the limits you stay WITHIN — write both down before you build, so you know what "solved" really means!