Students will launch the puzzle design challenge by experiencing a jigsaw competition, analyzing what made different puzzles satisfying or frustrating, hearing how a real puzzle expert thinks about clues and difficulty, and recording first ideas about solver needs in a Puzzle Designer’s Notebook.

Students will investigate how real solvers experience different puzzle types, gather evidence from peer and community-partner testing, and synthesize patterns into an empathy-based design brief that identifies clear user needs, frustrations, and assumptions to test before building their own puzzle stations.

Students will turn solver feedback from earlier testing into a clear design brief, generate and compare multiple puzzle ideas, build low-fidelity prototypes, complete two feedback-and-revision cycles, and refine a gallery-ready puzzle station with directions, a solution guide, and a creator card. They will document how user evidence shaped their decisions and share a concise walkthrough of their design process before the final exhibition phase.

Students will present their finished puzzle gallery stations to classmates, staff, and invited community guests, observe how real users interact with their designs, and communicate how feedback shaped their final choices. They will gather audience evidence from solving experiences, explain what makes their puzzles satisfying, and complete a final reflection on design, collaboration, and revision.