Framing the problem

Properly framing the design challenge will help to get this project going on the right foot, organise how I think about the solution, and help to clarify where I should push your design next.

1. The first task is to work out what problem I am trying to solve, written below.

Reduce the number of traditional crafts that are seldom practiced and lost in the UK.

2. The next step is to frame it as a design question.

How might we reduce the number of traditional crafts that are seldom practiced and lost in the UK.

3. Now I have to work out what the impact I am trying to have is.

Increase the number of people practicing and teaching traditional crafts, in the UK, to pass skills on to next generations.

4. Now I must write down some possible solutions to help frame the question.

• Create community focussed groups of craft enthusiasts to help foster skills sharing.
• Educate young children about crafts and enable them to pick up craft hobbies at a young age.
• Make crafts more inviting to a wider variety of people.
• Break down the barrier between those who know crafts and those who don’t.
• Create more modern, user friendly ways for crafts to be taught.
• Remove the stigma that heritage crafts have in the UK

5. Now right some constraints you have for the project.

• How might we teach physical and technical crafts through a mobile application?
• Not many of the younger generation know much about heritage crafts.
• How do you encourage younger generations to pick up physical crafts as hobbies, potential careers etc.
• Many skilled crafts people have given up heritage crafts as careers, so the skills are not being passed on.

6. Finally reframe the question to take into account the context, constraints and lead towards possible solutions.

How might we encourage more people, especially younger generations, to take up heritage craft as a hobby and show them the possibilities that there are in the UK.

This is by no means the final problem, as there is more research and refining to do, but it does give me a great start to use to refer back to during the next stage of my research and ideation.