Designing digital solutions: user experience & evaluation
Technologies · Year 7
Name: ______________________Date: ____________
Designing a good digital solution (like an app or website) involves more than just making it work — it also needs to consider user experience (UX): how easy, intuitive and enjoyable it is for real people to use. This usually involves generating multiple alternative designs, getting feedback, and modifying ideas based on that feedback before settling on a final approach. Once a solution is built, it should be evaluated against its original design criteria and user stories — did it actually solve the problem it set out to solve? — as well as considering possible future impacts, like how the solution might need to change as needs evolve or as it's used by more people.
Example
Two different navigation menu designs for a school app might be tested with real students — one using a bottom menu bar, one using a side menu — with feedback used to decide which is more intuitive before finalising the design.
Key terms
User experience (UX):
How easy, intuitive and enjoyable a digital solution is for people to actually use.
Evaluate:
To assess how well a solution meets its original design criteria and goals.
Questions
1. User experience (UX) refers to:
How a solution looks internally in code only
How easy, intuitive and enjoyable a solution is to use
Something irrelevant to design
Only the price of a product
2. Designing a good digital solution involves:
Only making it technically function
Considering how real people will experience using it
Ignoring the user entirely
Random, unplanned choices
3. Generating multiple alternative designs:
Wastes time with no benefit
Helps explore different possible approaches
Should never be done
Guarantees the first idea is best
4. Evaluating a solution means:
Ignoring how well it works
Assessing how well it meets its original design criteria and goals
Deleting it immediately
Randomly guessing its quality
5. User feedback on a design can help:
Confuse the designer with no benefit
Identify what's working and what needs improvement
Guarantee a perfect design immediately
Replace the need for any evaluation
6. Considering "future impact" of a solution means thinking about:
Only the present moment
How the solution might need to change as needs evolve
Nothing beyond the initial build
Ignoring future users
7. Comparing two design options (like two menu layouts) with real users helps:
Waste development time
Decide which option works better for users
Guarantee both are equally good with no testing needed
Avoid the need for any decision
8. Testing two navigation menu designs with real students before finalising one demonstrates:
Ignoring user experience entirely
A user-centred approach to evaluating design alternatives
A waste of development time
Randomly picking a design with no evaluation
9. Evaluating a finished solution against its original user stories helps determine:
Nothing useful
Whether the solution actually addressed the real need it was designed for
Only its visual appearance
Irrelevant details
10. Why might a digital solution need to be modified after it is initially released?
Solutions never need to change once released
User needs, technology, or circumstances can evolve over time
Modifying a solution is always unnecessary
Released solutions are always perfect forever
11. Which best demonstrates evaluating a solution against design criteria?
Ignoring the original requirements entirely
Checking whether the finished solution actually meets the agreed requirements, like ease of use
Assuming it is fine without checking
Only checking its appearance
12. Why might a design team generate multiple UX alternatives rather than committing to the first idea?
The first idea is always best
Exploring alternatives increases the chance of finding a better, more user-friendly solution
Multiple alternatives always waste time with no benefit
Alternatives should never be considered
13. A solution that works technically but frustrates users to operate has:
No UX issues at all
A poor user experience despite functioning correctly
The best possible UX
No relevance to design evaluation
14. Considering possible future impact when evaluating a solution might include thinking about:
Nothing relevant
How the solution might scale or need to adapt as more people use it
Only the current single user
Ignoring any future considerations
15. A team builds an app that meets all technical requirements but users find confusing to navigate. What does this suggest about their design process?
The app is perfectly designed
Technical correctness alone doesn't guarantee good user experience — UX also needs dedicated attention
UX is irrelevant if requirements are technically met
Confusing navigation has no real impact on a solution's success
16. Why might comparing user feedback on multiple design alternatives lead to a better final solution than relying on the designer's own opinion alone?
Designer opinion is always more reliable than user feedback
Real user feedback reflects how actual users experience and understand the design, which designers may not fully anticipate
User feedback is irrelevant to design quality
Alternatives should never be compared
17. A solution evaluated against its design criteria is found to meet the functional requirements but not the "ease of use for all ages" criterion. What should happen next?
Ignore this gap and finalise the solution as-is
Iterate on the design to better address the unmet criterion before finalising
Remove the criterion instead of addressing it
Assume the criterion was unimportant
18. Why might considering "possible future impact" be an important part of evaluating a digital solution, beyond just its immediate function?
Future impact is irrelevant to evaluation
Solutions may need to scale, adapt to new needs, or avoid unintended negative consequences over time
Solutions never need to consider anything beyond their initial release
Future impact only matters for physical products, not digital ones
19. Which best distinguishes a solution with strong UX from one with weak UX, assuming both are technically functional?
There is no meaningful difference if both function correctly
Strong UX makes the solution intuitive and pleasant to use, while weak UX may be functional but frustrating or confusing
UX has nothing to do with how enjoyable a solution is
Weak UX solutions are always technically broken
20. Understanding user experience design and evaluation mainly helps students:
Ignore how real people will use their solutions
Design digital solutions that genuinely work well for the people using them
Focus only on technical function with no regard for usability
Skip evaluating their solutions against original goals
Answer key (parent copy)
1. How easy, intuitive and enjoyable a solution is to use
2. Considering how real people will experience using it
3. Helps explore different possible approaches
4. Assessing how well it meets its original design criteria and goals
5. Identify what's working and what needs improvement
6. How the solution might need to change as needs evolve
7. Decide which option works better for users
8. A user-centred approach to evaluating design alternatives
9. Whether the solution actually addressed the real need it was designed for
10. User needs, technology, or circumstances can evolve over time
11. Checking whether the finished solution actually meets the agreed requirements, like ease of use
12. Exploring alternatives increases the chance of finding a better, more user-friendly solution
13. A poor user experience despite functioning correctly
14. How the solution might scale or need to adapt as more people use it
15. Technical correctness alone doesn't guarantee good user experience — UX also needs dedicated attention
16. Real user feedback reflects how actual users experience and understand the design, which designers may not fully anticipate
17. Iterate on the design to better address the unmet criterion before finalising
18. Solutions may need to scale, adapt to new needs, or avoid unintended negative consequences over time
19. Strong UX makes the solution intuitive and pleasant to use, while weak UX may be functional but frustrating or confusing
20. Design digital solutions that genuinely work well for the people using them