Analysing Existing Products: Diapers

I've probably lost my mind - and I blame being a new mum and lack of sleep - BUT I just had an idea for an activity for my students. This can be used for design or it can even be a homeroom/advisory activty. It could also be adapted for science class. This could also be a fun activity to do at the start or end of the year, or even a team buuilding exercise for staff!

The activity: Students will have a selection of different diapers. They have to determine which is the 'best' diaper. First they have to decide what makes a diaper good (how much it absorbs? How well it fits? How easy it is to put on the baby?). Then they create testing methods, gather data and decide which diaper is the best.

If each group picks a different diaper, the class can discuss why (bad testing methods? different factors for success prioritised). Lastly they can also discuss if having more knowledge of the family (their client) would have made them pick different factors for success.

I think students will have a lot of fun with this activity (anything that gets students thinking about poop and wee is normally successful). I put together a short presentation which you can find here.
The last slide is 'teachers notes' with more ideas for how to use this.