The instructor does not ask any of the questions unless or until they no longer can come up with any and they have missed some important categories. They generally ask about favorite music, instruments, sports, equipment, recreation, hobbies, leisure time activity, family history, family vocations, magazines they like, and so on. If the box is to be a gift, they make the list about the user. After the list of answers is fairly long, they make small sketches or symbols next to each word. Think of sketches as visual lists.
Artists make visual lists to develop and elaborate good ideas and to eliminate weak ideas.
It is also helpful to have students make a list of items that could be stored in a clay box. This can be done by having them get in groups of three or four and brainstorm lists. After the groups have written their lists ask them to share the ideas with the class. The bottom slab is first cut in a shape symbolizing one thing from the student's list. Students assemble slabs using scoring and slip.