Empathize
Students will launch the marble maze challenge, learn how engineers use the engineering design process, and conduct firsthand user research through observation and interviews. They will create an empathy map grounded in real quotes and timing data to understand what makes a marble maze challenging yet solvable.
Day 1
🧱 LEGO Skills Bootcamp
Launch 15m
βš™οΈ Engineering Design in Action
Knowledge/Skill Building 15m
πŸ—ΊοΈ Empathy Map & Check-In
Deliverable 10m
Define
Students will synthesize their individual marble maze user research into shared insights, identify patterns across interviews, and craft an evidence-based How Might We statement that clearly defines the user, need, and design insight guiding their maze design.
Day 2
🧠 Affinity Mapping User Quotes
Knowledge/Skill Building 15m
πŸ” Peer Critique Protocol
Deliverable 5m
βœ… Problem Definition Checkpoint
Assessment 5m
🎯 Writing Strong How Might We Questions
Knowledge/Skill Building 10m
πŸ“ Team How Might We Draft
Deliverable 15m
Ideate
Students will generate a wide range of marble maze design ideas grounded in real user needs, apply force and simple machine concepts to their thinking, and select top concepts using user-centered criteria to prepare for prototyping.
Day 3
πŸ’‘ 20-Idea Marble Maze Sprint
Deliverable 15m
πŸ“Š User-Needs Decision Matrix
Deliverable 10m
πŸ—£οΈ Concept Pitch & Feedback
Knowledge/Skill Building 5m
Prototype
Students will build and refine low- and medium-fidelity LEGO marble maze prototypes, test them with real users, and document feedback-driven revisions using the engineering design process.
Day 4
🧠 Rapid Prototype Planning Huddle
Knowledge/Skill Building 10m
🧱 Low-Fidelity LEGO Maze Build
Project Work 20m
πŸ‘₯ Peer User Testing Rounds
Research 10m
πŸ”„ Feedback & Revision Conference
Knowledge/Skill Building 5m
Test/Present
Students will validate their refined LEGO marble mazes with new users, analyze final feedback, and present their complete engineering design journey to an authentic audience during Marble Maze Challenge Day.
Day 5
🎯 New User Test Protocol Review
Knowledge/Skill Building 15m
πŸ§ͺ Final User Test & Data Collection
Project Work 20m
πŸ—£οΈ Marble Maze Challenge Presentations
Assessment 15m