Students will launch the Free Market Economy project through a marketplace simulation, learn foundational vocabulary (supply, demand, goods, services, specialization), and conduct firsthand user research with members of the school community to create an evidence-based empathy map that will ground their later problem definition and prototype work.

Students will synthesize their interview research into clear, evidence-based problem definitions that name a specific user need within the classroom marketplace. They will identify patterns across multiple users, analyze how individual choices affect supply, demand, goods, services, and community well-being, and craft a focused "How Might We" statement grounded in direct quotes and observations from the school community.

Students will generate a wide range of market solution ideas grounded in real user needs, use structured ideation strategies to push beyond obvious answers, and select top concepts using user-centered economic criteria connected to supply, demand, goods, services, and community well-being.

Students will build, test, and refine increasingly sophisticated prototypes of their marketplace goods or services, documenting how user feedback from the school community leads to measurable design changes connected to supply, demand, pricing, and community well-being.

Students will validate their refined marketplace solutions with new users, analyze supply and demand data from testing, and present their Community Market Solution during a hallway Market Day exhibition. They will trace their design decisions back to real user evidence and explain how individual choices in a free market impact community well-being.