Task A3 | ​Existing products 

🔎 What? 
 
❗Why? 
 
Analyze a group of similar products that inspire a solution to  You are trying to figure out what makes related products a 
the problem.  success (or not) and you are trying to come up with ideas for 
  your own project.  
 

⚙H
​ ow? 

Inspiration board 
● Choose ​a product idea from this list - ​Choice of Upcycled Product 
● Create​ a Pinterest board of a range of products (at least 25) that are an inspiration to your specific project.  
● Present​ a screenshot of (a large part of) your Pinterest board in your design folder. Include the title and the 
hyperlinked source of your Pinterest board. 
● ​ hen creating your inspiration board, choose products that are ​different from each other​. If the 
Consider also​ -​ W
products are very similar, you will gain only limited knowledge and inspiration for your own project, because most 
products will lead to the same conclusions. It is likely that your inspiration will not only come from products that are 
similar to what you have in mind. Quite different products may have features that inspire you as well. 
● Review​ the ​high-level example​ and the

rubric (below) to ensure you have enough detail. 

● Choose and j​ ustify​ which project plan will be the foundation for your project. You will incorporate elements from other 
projects, but choose 1 that best represents what you want to make. 

Inspiration Board of​: ... Ideas 

Source:​ O’Rourke, Erin.. “​https://www.pinterest.com/yisli2025/make-the-clothes-useful/​ ​/​ ” Pinterest Board. Feb 2020. 

PMI analysis​ | Plus, Minus, Interesting 

The command term a ​ nalyze​ is defined as​:  
 
“Break down in order to bring out the essential elements or structure​.” 
 
In this task, this means conducting a PMI analysis for the products you identified in your inspiration board. 
  
Tips for analysis: 
● Evidence that you looked closely at the site of the pin. 
● Identified properties of the products (size, shape, style, functional effectiveness, appropriate for fabric, 
appropriate for your skill level, appropriateness for the client). 
● Bullet points but full sentences. 
● Explain why it is a strength/challenge/interesting point 
 

Analyze​ strengths (​plus​) of the products. In your analysis clearly identify and explain specific features that 
⊕  make the product successful. 

● 1 T​ his handbag Material is by recycling paper and the recycling plastic board. The plastic board 
makes the handbag more interesting and more fashionable. The transparent design also makes the 
protection can show what is inside, for example, if you want to bring a cake to your friends, your 
friends no need to open the bag then they can see what this cake looks like. The main usefulness is 
can show what you have inside like a flower, cake. This design suitable for promoting and display 
products 

● 2​This shopping bag material is by linen， the linen makes the bag very light and practical. This 
big bag has a lot of small pockets inside that can make your life easier because you can easily 
organize when you go shopping.  

● ​ 3 T​ his handbag material is by canvas，the canvas makes this handbag more fashionab`le and 
light. This bag is a tooling wind style, this bag also has a big size the young man can put many 
things inside. 

● 4
​ ​ ​ This handbag material is cotton. That makes this handbag flexible and aesthetically pleasing.  

Analyze​ weaknesses (​minus​) of the prothducts. In your analysis clearly identify and explain specific 
⊖  features that make the product less successful. 

● …​ 1​ The bag has lots of places that are transparent, you can’t put any personal things inside, for example, 
your wallet. This bag is very useless because you don’t use it all the time. 

● ​ 2​ The bag's rough appearance, the look is not very comfortable. This bag did not have a zipper 
that makes things easily drop off. 

● 3
​ ​This bag style may only be for the young man, also this material makes this bag very easy to 
get dirty. 
●   

4 T​ his bag style may not be good for formal occasions, and this bag may be very heavy. 
 

Outline​ all take-aways (​interesting​) you have gained for your project by analysing the products. 
ℹ  Take-aways are Ideas that are worth remembering for later in the project. 

● …I like the transparent design because that will make my bag very fashion. Another design I like is transparent 
to show things. 
● This small bag design makes you easily organize your things.  
● I like the t​ ooling wind style, I will make my bag have that style, I also really like this style. 
 
 
 
 Choose and justify a project plan 
 
Select one of the products from your inspiration board and justify the choice for this product to design in the next 
stage of the design cycle.  
 
Your justification must address the following elements: 

Why did you choose this product over the others in your inspiration board? ​Explain how it is appropriate for: 
● your client  
● the fabric you chose 
● your skill level 
... 
 

   
A3 Assessment 
Level  Descriptor  Typical features of student work 

0  The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below. 

1-2  The student ​presents​ some  ❏ The analysis of the individual products l​ ists​ specific features as strengths 
existing products that inspire a  or weaknesses. 
solution to the problem.  ❏ The inspiration board is ​not completed​, nor a link to your source. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​limited​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level. 

3-4  The student ​outlines​ features  ❏ The analysis of the individual products o​ utlines​ specific features as 
of some existing products that  strengths or weaknesses and leads to some further insights regarding the 
inspires a solution to the  project. 
problem.  ❏ There is a l​ imited​ number and range of products in your Pinterest Board. 
There should be at least a range of 25 products that are different from 
each other 
❏ The source is included, but ​not in, proper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​basic​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level. 

5-6  The student ​describes​ common  ❏ The analysis of each individual product or system d ​ escribes​ specific 
features of similar products  features as strengths and weaknesses and leads to meaningful insights 
that inspire a solution to the  regarding the project. 
problem.  ❏ There is a s​ ufficient​ number and range of products in your Pinterest 
Board. 
❏ The source is cited in p ​ roper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​sufficient​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level.  

7-8  The student ​analyses​ a group  ❏ The analysis of each individual product or system e
​ xplains​ specific 
of similar products that inspire  features as strengths and weaknesses and leads to impactful further 
a solution to the problem.  insights regarding the project. 
❏ There is an e
​ xtensive​ number and range of products in your Pinterest 
Board. 
❏ The source is cited in p
​ roper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​sophisticated​ analysis and 
thinking about client, fabric and skill level.