Launch
Students will launch the pickleball tournament design project by experiencing contrasting game formats, learning core rules and safety expectations, and drafting first evidence-based ideas about what makes a tournament fair, fun, and challenging for different skill levels.
Days 1 - 2
πŸ“ Dink and Dash Stations
Launch 45m
πŸ“ Court Rules and Fair Play
Knowledge/Skill Building 45m
Research & Plan
Students will gather direct user evidence from gameplay and interviews, organize findings into an empathy artifact, and identify the fairness, safety, scoring, and skill-level assumptions they need to test before designing tournament components.
Days 3 - 6
πŸ‘€ Gameplay Observation Notes
Knowledge/Skill Building 45m
🎀 Player Interview Protocol
Community Experience 45m
πŸ—ΊοΈ Empathy Map and Assumption List
Deliverable 45m
πŸ“‹ Tournament Research Gate
Assessment 45m
Ideate & Prototype
Students will turn user research into actionable tournament design choices by framing a clear design brief, generating multiple bracket and rule ideas, building low-fidelity prototypes, testing them in live play, and revising based on peer and teacher feedback.
Days 7 - 10
🧩 How Might We Brief
Knowledge/Skill Building 40m
✏️ Bracket and Rules Sketch Sprint
Project Work 45m
πŸ“ Mini-Court Prototype Test
Project Work 50m
πŸ” Prototype Revision Checkpoint
Deliverable 45m
Revise & Present
Students will refine their pickleball tournament prototypes through another evidence-based revision cycle, validate fairness and usability with peer and teacher testers, and prepare polished handbook materials plus a concise stakeholder-ready explanation of how feedback shaped final design choices.
Days 11 - 14
🎯 Final Revision Targets
Knowledge/Skill Building 35m
πŸ› οΈ Handbook and Bracket Rebuild
Project Work 45m
πŸ“ Teacher Clinic Test Round
Community Experience 45m
πŸ“˜ Polished Handbook Pitch
Assessment 45m
Showcase
Students will present and run their student-designed pickleball mini-tournament for an authentic audience, explain how gameplay evidence shaped their handbook decisions, gather final user feedback during exhibition matches, and complete a brief closing reflection on fairness, safety, collaboration, and tournament design.
Day 15
πŸ“ Bracket Bash Live Showcase
Assessment 45m