Set up a design notebook and portfolio

Organize a design notebook so a problem, its criteria, and its constraints are easy to find and reuse in your innovation portfolio.

Builds on (2 levels back)inferred · high confidence

Telling a criterion from a constraint: A notebook is only useful if you can sort a goal you want (criterion) from a limit you must obey (constraint); they go in different places.
Labeling and dating entries: A portfolio is searchable only if each entry is titled and dated; this is the habit a design notebook is built on.

Prerequisites are inferred: pending teacher review.

Re-learn the skill with worked practice and clear examples.

A design notebook is set up so each entry is titled and dated, the problem is stated once, and criteria and constraints live in clearly separate places: making the portfolio easy to search and reuse.

Step 1: Title and date everything

Every entry gets a short title and the date. This is what later lets you (and a reviewer) find a prototype or decision quickly in the portfolio.

Step 2: State the problem once, then the rules

Write the problem in your own words, then list criteria (the goals you'll judge solutions by) and constraints (the limits you can't break) in separate lists so they never get mixed up.

Step 3: Keep failed prototypes

A prototype is an early test version. Even a prototype that failed belongs in the notebook, because the record of what didn't work is evidence of your design thinking.

Practice

A student's notebook page reads: "Brace must bend less than 5 mm under load" and "Brace should feel comfortable to wear." Which statement is a criterion (a goal used to judge how good the design is)?

Reviewed

A."Bend less than 5 mm under load"
B."Should feel comfortable to wear"
C.Both are constraints
D.Neither belongs in a notebook

Show the worked solution ▾

Answer: B. "Should feel comfortable to wear"

Step 1: Spot the hard limit: 'Bend less than 5 mm under load' is a fixed pass/fail line: a constraint.
Step 2: Spot the goal: 'Should feel comfortable' is something you want more of and would use to compare designs: that is a criterion.

Why it's right: 'Comfortable to wear' is a goal you can rate one design higher than another on, which is what makes it a criterion rather than a hard limit.

Why the others miss:

A: The 5 mm bend rule is a fixed pass/fail limit, so it is a constraint, not a criterion.
C: Only the bend rule is a constraint; the comfort goal is a criterion.
D: Both statements are exactly the kind of design rule a notebook should record.

Aligned to BI design process: documenting criteria and constraints · reading level ~grade 9

Where you'd see this

A portfolio reviewer flips to a dated entry titled 'Prototype 2: hinge test' and immediately sees the criteria it was scored against.

Careers that use this

Patent Examiner: Relies on dated, organized design records to judge what was invented and when.

Video library

Watch: Set up a design notebook and portfolio

Engineering Notebooks for Beginners

4004Y YNot! · ~8 min

Guided notes

Fill these in as you work through the lesson.

Big idea: A design notebook records the problem, the criteria (goals you want a solution to meet), and the constraints (limits you cannot break), so your portfolio shows how a prototype grew from a clear set of rules.

Key terms: write the meaning

Criterion (a goal to aim for):
Constraint (a limit you must stay inside):
Prototype (an early test version):
Portfolio (the collected, organized record):

The rule

"Must cost under $20" is a because it is a fixed limit you cannot break; "as light as possible" is a because it is a goal you score designs against.

Check yourself

Write one criterion and one constraint for a low-cost arm brace.
Why does a prototype belong in the notebook even if it failed?
What two labels must every notebook entry have so the portfolio stays searchable?

Work one example

For a wheelchair-ramp design, list one criterion (a goal you can measure) and one constraint (a limit you can't break), then say which one you would use to score two competing ramps against each other.