Great ideas become stronger through testing and revision.
In this lesson, students continue building their prototypes, conduct beta testing to gather user feedback, and engage in a structured revision studio. By applying feedback and refining their work, they’ll ensure their solutions are clear, impactful, and ready for real-world audiences.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Iterate on their prototype using the Product Development Checklist, ensuring alignment to their storyboard, problem statement, and audience goals.
- Apply systems thinking and collaborative planning to evaluate and prioritize design and content elements of their solution.
- Conduct a beta test using the Five-Act Interview method, gathering structured feedback from peers simulating real users.
- Analyze feedback using a sorting strategy to distinguish between quick fixes, deeper design questions, and low-priority items.
- Demonstrate transforming competencies by refining their prototype with the goal of increasing audience engagement, clarity, and potential real-world impact.
- Reflect on the role of iteration, feedback, and adaptability in the design process.
What You’ll Need
Minds-on
Skills for the Future:
- Transformative Competencies
Project Word Wall:
- Beta test
- Five-Act Interview
In this lesson, students continue to build and refine their prototypes through structured iteration and user-centered feedback. Using the Product Development Checklist, they will assess key components, such as content, messaging, and user experience, to ensure alignment with their storyboards, audiences, and original problem statements. Depending on project complexity, this build phase may extend over multiple class periods to support deeper development and real-time problem-solving. Students will then conduct a beta test using the Google Ventures Five-Act Interview process to simulate end-user feedback. Finally, they will enter a revision studio to apply systems thinking and transformative competencies, using peer insights to strengthen the clarity, cohesion, and impact of their solutions.
This lesson reinforces that strong design is a process, rooted in iteration, collaboration, and a deep understanding of user needs.
In this lesson, students remain in the prototype phase of the design thinking process, focusing on refining and enhancing their solutions based on structured feedback. They’ll conduct beta testing using a real-world interview protocol and apply insights to improve clarity, functionality, and alignment with their original goals.
*For Microsoft links, click File > Download.
Standards and Practices
Common Core Standards: Grades 9–10
- W.9–10.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- SL.9–10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.
- SL.9–10.4: Present information clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning.
Common Core Standards: Grades 11–12
- W.11-12.5: Develop and strengthen writing through planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
- SL.11-12.1: Initiate and participate in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners.
- W.11-12.6: Use technology to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback.
Next Generation Science Standards
- HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
- HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, and aesthetics.
- HS-ETS1-4: Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex problem.
International Society for Technology in Education
- Empowered Learner: Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
- Computational Thinker: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods.
- Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.