Grade 10 · Connected devices

IoT product autopsy: find a real problem

Investigate connected products, their dependencies and failures, then identify a school problem worth exploring.

For this lesson

Open student handout (Word)All Grade 10 handouts →

6 pages · Use the handout for the complete instructions, examples and response spaces.

Related assignments

Aiii. - The ProductDue 24 Aug 2026 at 11:00 · China time
Follow the linked handout and the submission instructions in Toddle.
Assignment on the calendar →

Submit in Toddle. The assignment instructions above specify what to hand in.

Work through the lesson

1. Think in systems

Use input → process → output → connection → service to explain a connected product. Ask when connecting an object to a network is useful.

2. Set up your design folder

Create “G10 IoT Design Project – [Name]”. Add sections for the problem, research plan, existing products, design brief and an AI use log. Keep useful work from this investigation in the folder.

3. Analyze three connected products

For each product, identify its user, claimed problem, inputs or sensors, outputs or controls, reason for a network connection, data collected and likely destination of that data. Record its best and worst features. Consider what happens if Wi-Fi stops working or the company’s server disappears.

4. Investigate one real failure

Find an actual example of an IoT product failing. Explain what happened, what failed, who was affected, whether the failure could reasonably have been predicted, and how the design could have been different. AI may help you find a case, but confirm it with an actual source and record AI use if applicable.

5. Find five school problems

List five problems at CISK before choosing a technology. Describe the difficulty people experience rather than naming a device you want to build. For each, ask whether sensing something could help and whether connecting it to a network would add value.

6. Choose a provisional problem

Write who experiences the problem, its cause or context, why it matters, and the general capability that might help. Explain that more research is needed before deciding on a solution. Keep the focus on the problem rather than committing to a particular ESP32 device.

Keep this evidence

Design folder with research and AI-log sections
Analysis of three connected products
One verified IoT failure case
Five school problems
A provisional problem statement

Read the handout text online

For diagrams, visual examples and the full layout, open the handout above.

IoT Project: Product Autopsy + Problem Hunt Class 2 worksheet - Criterion A begins here

CLASS 2

NAME ________________________

DATE ____________

CLASS ____________

Today's design principle Do not choose the technology first. Start with a real problem, understand the user, and decide whether connectivity actually adds value.

A THE SYSTEM MODEL Use this to describe connected products

INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

CONNECTION

SERVICE

Example: temperature sensor -> ESP32 -> decides room is hot -> Wi-Fi -> dashboard shows the reading

B START YOUR DESIGN FOLDER Create one document and keep it for the whole project

A.i	The Problem
A.ii	Research Plan
A.iii	Existing Products
A.iv	Design Brief
LOG	AI Use Log

File name: G10 IoT Design Project - Your Name

Checkpoint before you continue Your folder should now contain the five headings above. Save it somewhere you can find next class.

1. Existing Product Autopsy Analyze three connected products. Look past the marketing.

A.iii

Your job For each product, identify the user, the system, the data, and the dependencies. A strong analysis explains how the product works as a designed system - not just whether you like it.

PRODUCT 1

Product / link
Who is the intended user?
What problem does it claim to solve?
INPUT: What does it sense or receive?
OUTPUT: What does it display, move, control, or notify?
Why does it need a network connection?
What data does it collect? Where might that data go?
Best feature - and why
Worst feature - and why
What happens if Wi-Fi disappears?
What happens if the company/server disappears?

PRODUCT 2

Product / link
Who is the intended user?
What problem does it claim to solve?
INPUT: What does it sense or receive?
OUTPUT: What does it display, move, control, or notify?
Why does it need a network connection?
What data does it collect? Where might that data go?
Best feature - and why
Worst feature - and why
What happens if Wi-Fi disappears?
What happens if the company/server disappears?

1. Existing Product Autopsy Product 3 + compare the three systems.

A.iii

PRODUCT 3

Product / link
Who is the intended user?
What problem does it claim to solve?
INPUT: What does it sense or receive?
OUTPUT: What does it display, move, control, or notify?
Why does it need a network connection?
What data does it collect? Where might that data go?
Best feature - and why
Worst feature - and why
What happens if Wi-Fi disappears?
What happens if the company/server disappears?

COMPARE WHAT DID YOU NOTICE? Use evidence from your three examples

Which product uses connectivity most convincingly? Why?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Which product would still be useful if the internet/server disappeared? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________________________

What is one new risk that appeared only because a product was connected?

__________________________________________________________________________________

2. One Real IoT Failure Research a real case. Verify what actually happened.

A.iii

What counts as a failure? A security breach, service outage, bad sensor reading, broken software update, privacy problem, false alarm, user lockout, company shutdown, or a connected product becoming useless when its service disappears.

Product / system
Failure case title
Source 1 (real webpage)
Source 2 / verification source

A WHAT HAPPENED? Write in complete, specific sentences

1. Describe the failure. What happened?

__________________________________________________________________________________

2. What actually failed? Hardware, software, network, company/service, user behavior - or more than one?

__________________________________________________________________________________

3. Who was affected, and what was the consequence?

__________________________________________________________________________________

4. Could a designer reasonably have predicted this failure? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. How could the system have been designed differently?

__________________________________________________________________________________

AI rule AI may help you locate or understand a case, but you must verify the event with an actual source. If you use AI, record it in the AI Use Log on the last page.

3. Hunt for Real Problems at School Find needs before inventing solutions.

A.i

Important A problem is NOT "we need a smart _____." That is already a solution. Describe what people struggle with, waste, miss, misunderstand, or cannot easily measure.

GOOD: PROBLEM	NOT YET: SOLUTION
Students do not know whether a study space is occupied until they walk there.	We need an IoT occupancy detector.

Find FIVE school problems. Then test whether sensing and networking would genuinely help.

#	REAL PROBLEM	Could sensing help?	Would networking add value?	Who is affected?
1		Yes / No / Maybe	Yes / No / Maybe
2		Yes / No / Maybe	Yes / No / Maybe
3		Yes / No / Maybe	Yes / No / Maybe
4		Yes / No / Maybe	Yes / No / Maybe
5		Yes / No / Maybe	Yes / No / Maybe

4 SELECT YOUR BEST PROBLEM Provisional - you are allowed to change it later

Chosen problem #: ______

Who is the user/client?
What exactly is the problem?
Why does it matter?
What evidence would prove this problem is real?

4. Draft the Problem Statement Describe the need without locking yourself into a solution.

A.i

Use this structure [User/client] experiences [problem] because [cause/context]. This matters because [consequence]. A designed system may improve the situation by [general capability], although further research is needed before deciding on a solution.

YOUR DRAFT

__________________________________________________________________________________

5 CHECK YOUR THINKING Circle / mark one answer for each

I described a problem, not a gadget.	YES	NOT YET
I identified a real user or client.	YES	NOT YET
I explained why the problem matters.	YES	NOT YET
I have not decided that the solution must use a particular sensor/device yet.	YES	NOT YET
I can identify evidence I need to collect next.	YES	NOT YET

6 AI USE LOG Complete only if you used AI today

Tool used
Purpose / what I asked
What it contributed
How I verified it
What I kept, changed, or rejected

EXIT ONE SENTENCE Before you leave

An object should become connected to a network only when _______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________