Iteration & Improvement Guide
Supports Week 9, and links back to your Week 8 analysis and forward to Week 10 finishing.
The Real Problem This Solves
A first version is never the final one. Iteration is the loop that separates real design from a one-shot guess: make, test, learn, improve, repeat. This week you act on your Week 8 priorities, and you keep a record so your decisions stay traceable.
Key Ideas You Need First
1. Change for a reason, not for the sake of it
Every change should trace back to a specific piece of evidence. If you cannot say which test result a change answers, do not make it yet.
2. Protect what works
Iteration is not starting over. Keep the parts your testers succeeded with. Change only what failed.
3. One change at a time where you can
If you change five things at once and it improves, you will not know which change helped. Where practical, change, then retest.
4. Log every change
A change log records what you changed, why, and what happened. It is the backbone of your portfolio story later.
Tools And Materials Needed
- Your Week 6 prototype and Week 8 top three fixes.
- Materials to make the changes.
- The Design Change Log Template.
- One or two people for a quick retest.
Step-By-Step Walkthrough
- List the change and its evidence. For each fix, write the test result it answers.
- Make the highest priority change first. Start with the do first items from your matrix.
- Retest quickly. A short check with one or two people is enough to see if the change helped.
- Log the result. Record what you changed, why, and whether it worked. Note if it created a new problem.
- Repeat for your top fixes. Work down the list, keeping what works.
- Capture before and after. Photograph the old and new versions side by side.
Demonstrated Example
Fix 1: stiffen the mat edges. Evidence: both testers let end tools slide. Change: added a thin card strip along each edge. Retest: tools stayed put for both. Result: worked.
Fix 2: replace the ribbon tie. Evidence: tie was slow for both. Change: sewed on an elastic loop and a button. Retest: fastened one-handed in about four seconds. Result: worked, much faster.
Kept unchanged: the deep pockets, which both testers liked.
New issue noted: the card strip makes the mat slightly harder to roll tightly. Logged for Week 10 finishing.
Why this is strong: each change answers a real result, the working parts were protected, and a new side effect was honestly logged.
Your Task This Week
- Make your top fixes, highest priority first.
- Retest each quickly with one or two people.
- Log every change, its reason, and its result.
- Capture a before and after comparison.
Submission Checklist
| Upload item | Pass standard |
|---|---|
| Before and after | Shows a clear, visible improvement to the design. |
| Design change log | Each change has evidence, a reason, and a result. |
| New issues noted | Any side effects honestly recorded for finishing. |
Assessment And Pass Criteria
- Every change traces to a specific test result.
- Working parts were kept, not needlessly redesigned.
- Changes were retested, not just assumed to work.
- The log makes the reasoning traceable.
Common Mistakes
- Changing everything at once. You lose track of what helped.
- Redesigning what already worked. Protect your strengths.
- Not retesting. A change is a hypothesis until a user confirms it.
- No log. Without a record you cannot tell your design story later.
Extension Challenge
Run a second small iteration on your most stubborn problem. Two quick loops usually beat one big redesign.