1-Pager
Back to Plan
Launch

🧠 Policy and Device Concept Sprint

Engage and critique perspectives Identify an issue or design challenge Gather and organize original data Develop an inquiry plan Build models, prototypes, or action plans Develop as a multilingual Engage in discussion HS-ETS1-1 Evaluate competing design solutions to a real-world probl... Compare and evaluate competing arguments or design soluti... Plan an investigation or test a design individually and c... Humanity faces major global challenges today, such as the... Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex r... 6.3.12.GeoGI.1 Product Core Content Community Partners Essential Question Critique and Revision Submission Required

Teams use their Phase 3 design brief, stakeholder quotes, outbreak graphs, and criteria/constraints list to produce a wide set of concept options before choosing one direction. Using Crazy 8s, concept cards, and a quick decision matrix, they sketch at least four distinct campaign or policy approaches and four distinct device ideas that respond to user needs, trade-offs, and language access. The class closes with a short share-out focused on which ideas are genuinely different rather than small variations.

Plan day
Day 13
Duration
80 min
Grouping
Small Group
Steps
8 steps

Lesson plan

8 steps · 80 min
# What teachers do
1 Launch the sprint by posting the goal, success criteria, and non-negotiables: every team must generate at least four clearly different policy/campaign concepts and four clearly different device concepts, each tied to evidence, user needs, constraints, and language access. Quickly review the team evidence set: design brief, outbreak graphs, Black Death comparison notes, stakeholder quotes, and criteria/constraints list. (8 min)
2 Have teams complete a rapid problem framing huddle. Ask them to identify the specific infection-control challenge they are solving, name the highest-priority users, underline two quantitative criteria from their data, note one lesson from the Black Death comparison, and list one multilingual access need that must appear in both products. Record these on a visible evidence board. (10 min)
3 Run Crazy 8s for policy/campaign ideas. Students fold paper into eight sections and sketch fast possibilities such as public service campaigns, policy recommendations, message delivery systems, signage systems, outreach plans, or multilingual communication tools. Push for variety in audience, channel, enforcement, and accessibility features rather than minor visual changes. (12 min)
4 Run Crazy 8s for device ideas. Students sketch multiple infection-reducing device concepts or modifications, focusing on usability, cost, safety, materials, portability, cleaning, and clear bilingual or multilingual instructions. Require students to label what transmission problem each idea addresses and what tradeoff it introduces. (12 min)
5 Move into team sorting and concept cards. Teams cluster their sketches, select at least four distinct policy/campaign ideas and four distinct device ideas, and turn them into concept cards with a title, target user, key feature, supporting evidence, language-access feature, and one likely limitation or ethical concern. (12 min)
6 Guide teams through a quick decision matrix. Using their criteria/constraints list, students score each shortlisted concept for likely impact, feasibility, accessibility, cost, and fit to outbreak data, then identify one leading policy/campaign direction and one leading device direction to carry forward for tomorrow's testing work. (10 min)
7 Facilitate a mini gallery walk critique. Teams post concept cards and evidence boards. Classmates leave response cards answering: Which ideas are truly different? Which idea is best supported by data and history? Where is language access strongest? What tradeoff or stakeholder concern still needs attention? (8 min)
8 Close with a concise share-out and revision plan. Each team names the concept pair they are advancing, cites one historical or statistical reason for the choice, names one suggestion from peers they will use next class, and notes one question to bring to the clinic or hospital expert in the upcoming feedback session. (8 min)
Preparation (10 items)
  • Prepare one team evidence packet with copies of the design brief, stakeholder quotes, outbreak graphs, Black Death comparison notes, and the current criteria/constraints list.
  • Create and print concept card templates with fields for title, user, problem addressed, key features, evidence, multilingual access, tradeoff, and questions for expert feedback.
  • Create and print a simple decision matrix that includes impact, feasibility, cost, usability, language accessibility, and alignment to outbreak data.
  • Prepare Crazy 8s paper or folded sketch sheets and gather markers, pencils, sticky notes, tape, and chart paper for evidence boards.
  • Set up wall space or table space for the gallery walk with clear team labels and room for response cards.
  • Print peer response cards with prompts focused on distinctiveness, evidence use, stakeholder fit, language access, and tradeoffs.
  • Post the activity goal, time checkpoints, and success criteria where all teams can see them throughout the sprint.
  • Prepare a brief model showing the difference between genuinely different concepts and small variations of the same idea.
  • Organize multilingual support materials such as sentence frames, translation tools, bilingual glossary terms related to infection control, and examples of accessible public health messaging.
  • Review student team compositions and pre-plan facilitator check-ins for teams that may need support with idea generation, discussion norms, or interpreting quantitative evidence.
Student-facing instructions
You will use your team’s evidence from earlier research to generate many possible solutions before choosing one direction for your public health product and one direction for your infection-reducing device. Your materials are your design brief, outbreak graphs, stakeholder quotes, Black Death comparison notes, criteria/constraints list, sketch paper, concept cards, and decision matrix. First, your team will clarify the problem you are solving, the users you are designing for, the most important data points, and the language-access features you must include. Then you will sketch many policy or campaign ideas and many device ideas, aiming for real differences in approach rather than small changes to the same idea. After sketching, you will choose at least four distinct campaign or policy concepts and four distinct device concepts and turn them into concept cards. Each concept card should explain who it is for, what problem it solves, what evidence supports it, how it includes multilingual access, and what tradeoff or limitation it has. Next, you will use the decision matrix to compare your ideas and select one leading campaign or policy direction and one leading device direction. During the gallery walk, you will study other teams’ concepts and leave specific response cards. You will finish by naming the ideas your team will carry forward, the evidence behind your choice, and one revision you will make next class based on peer feedback and one question you want to ask the health expert.