Define the need before choosing a shape. Criteria say what a solution must do and how to check it. Constraints are limits. A clear brief lets someone else judge success. Safety: Planning only; any later construction needs separate safe instructions. Stop: End when the user can explain both checks. Do not claim the unbuilt design has passed them.

Materials: Paper, pencil and ruler; Three wooden pencils and one reused paper sheet; Adult who can act as the intended user 1. Ask the adult user: What is difficult about storing these three pencils? Record their actual reply. If no problem exists, use this illustrative need: Our three pencils spread across the desk; we want one small resting place. Mark it as an imagined need. 2. Write a one-sentence problem without naming a solution shape: Design a small place to keep three pencils together on a flat desk. 3. Write two criteria and their checks. First, place all three pencils on the holder on a flat desk. Remove both hands for a slow count of five. It passes if all remain supported and none rolls off. Second, measure the holder's footprint with a ruler; it must fit within 15 cm by 15 cm. Ask whether both criteria meet the user's need before building. 4. Write constraints: only one reused sheet, no tape, no cutting and no purchased parts. Distinguish these limits from the success criteria. Sketch one possible solution, labelling its proposed size and pencil spaces. 5. Have the adult read the brief back without guessing. Ask them to point to how each criterion would be tested. Revise any vague phrase, such as works well, into a checkable statement. Construction is optional, not required for this planning task. Done: A design brief includes a real or labelled imagined need, two measurable criteria with checks and explicit material constraints. Proof: Keep the user reply, brief and sketch. Note adult-supplied requirements. Stop: End when the user can explain both checks. Do not claim the unbuilt design has passed them.