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Shark Tank: Ask

A guide for the Year 10 Shark Tank assignment

This part of the task is the development of the written proposal for your team, as well as the development of your essential question. You will also need to think about your constraints and considerations when it comes to designing your product.

What makes a good essential question? (Edu Planet 21, 2018, April 17)

This article, though aimed at teachers, provides some good guidelines on what your essential question should achieve.


What are essential questions? (The Second Principle, 2014)

This article provides a good definition of an essential question, and has a useful checklist to see whether your question counts as an essential question. It is aimed at teachers, but will be useful in refining your own essential question.


Developing research questions (Monash University, n.d.)

This guide from Monash University provides helpful tips on how to design a good question to direct your research.


Essential question templates (Pen Pal School, 2020, November 2)

This website gives a list of suggested templates for wording your essential question, and a list of examples to demonstrate what a question could look like.

9 types of design constraints (Simplicable, 2017, June 13)

Design constraints are limitations on design, either from the designer themselves or outside forces. This article lists nine types of design constraints that you may need to think about.


The roles of constraints in design behaviour (UX Matters, 2016, May 31)

This article describes the different types of design constraints and how they impact design innovation. It also provides a good list of considerations that you will need to think about when designing your product.


52 design considerations (Simplicable, 2021, March 22)

Design differs from art in that in considers factors such as strategy, customers, markets, technology, laws, standards and competition. This article provides a comprehensive list of considerations that may affect your design.


The top 10 factors influencing product design (My MBA Guides, n.d.)

This article provides a good overview of some of the main things you will need to consider when designing your product.


Consider human factors early in the design cycle (Design News, 2015, April 30)

Human factors analysis is the study of the interactions between humans and the products, systems, and processes they use. The first step in incorporating a good human factors process into your development program is setting specific goals for your product's design. These goals should include a product that:

  • Is safe to use
  • Performs effectively
  • Optimizes usability and user experience.

When done correctly, a good human factors process not only creates a safer product for your customers, it also improves your product's overall performance and customer experience. As a result, your products will be more sought after than your competitors and give your company a market advantage. This article goes through this process and how human factor considerations are important to product design.