Background

Exercise is physical activity that is done to enhance or maintain one's fitness and overall health. We can exercise in countless ways, such as walking, running, cycling, swimming, gym, yoga, playing sports, gardening, and so forth. Exercise can help us to lose weight, improve strength and develop muscles, strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve coordination, hone athletic skills, exercise cognitive functioning, and more. Everyone has their own reason for exercising, it may be any combination of the following: to improve their physical health and mental well-being, to spend time outdoors, to socialise, to break up the monotony of work life, to combat the effects of ageing, for the simple enjoyment of physical exertion and competition, and so forth. Exercise equipment (or gym equipment) is used by people doing exercise at home or at a gym. The equipment may support any kind of recognised exercise, and it takes any form, from treadmills for running, to elastic bands for strength training.
 

The design brief

Design a piece of exercise equipment of your choosing, for you or anyone in your family to use to enhance their fitness health. Consider the exercise benefits that you want to achieve, the needs of the users, their safety and well-being, and ways to encourage a healthy lifestyle. The goal is to enhance the health and quality of life of the users. Construct a working prototype of your exercise equipment and test it. Alternatively, you may build a computer-aided design (CAD) model of your design concept, if you prefer. Work on this project in a small team with a group of your classmates.
 

The design thinking process

​​​​​​​Follow the six stages of the design thinking process to ensure that you are thorough and do everything necessary to succeed in your design project. First, you endeavour to understand the design topic and EMPATHISE with the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DEFINE what is essential to the product or system that you are designing. Then you IDEATE, that is, you creatively come up with ideas and develop them. The next step is to PROTOTYPE your chosen design solution in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Then you TEST your design idea to elicit the opinions of users. And finally, at the end of the process, you REFLECT upon your project to benefit from the experience. Use the appropriate methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you proceed along the design thinking process.
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Note for teachers

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the PROTOTYPE Stage for Level IV to safely supervise this design project.