CONTEXT The first year at university is a crucial time of transition as students adjust to their university experience and start making connections with their future disciplines. The curriculum and introductory assessment need to introduce students to university expectations, promote active learning, and also allow the teaching staff to monitor student performance to identify those who might need support. This paper describes the Design Activity workbook assessment task embedded into an introductory first-year Engineering Design course. The activities in the Design Activity workbook aimed to encourage students to consider design issues which interested them, and see things from an engineering point of view. In addition, the workbook activities aimed to support student transition to university through encouraging regular attendance, as the activities were only marked if students attended class in the relevant week. PURPOSE OR GOAL As the course contains students from three different degrees, there was a need to identify if there were any differences in performance in the activities across the three groups. In addition, although students have previously made positive comments about the Design Workbook in the end of term course feedback surveys, there was a need for a more detailed understanding of student perceptions of the Design Workbook activities. In particular, the teaching team wished to know if students found the activities interesting and career relevant. APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS Student marks were analysed to identify if there were any differences between students from the three degrees in the course. In addition, students were invited to complete an online survey regarding their perceptions of the design workbook activities. The resulting survey data was analysed and common themes were identified for discussion. ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES Students generally found the Design Workbook activities interesting and useful as they could tailor the activities to their own interests. Students also saw clear links between the activities and design issues in the world around them, as well as the relevance to their future careers. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY The majority of students found the activities interesting and relevant to their future careers as engineers and designers. Students made some suggestions for improvement, including adjusting the activities to better cater for students in software engineering and other technology related degrees.