Research and experience indicates that students enrolled for CS1 often perform poorly. On this basis we propose a pedagogical design for CS1 within the context of South Africa, where students are often under-prepared for the challenges of higher education. The pedagogy was designed and implemented using a design-based research (DBR) approach over a period of two iterative cycles. The outcome of the design research is a set of eight design principles that have been implemented within the local context. Although further research is needed to test the design more rigorously, results to date are promising. Overwhelmingly, students perceived the design to be beneficial to their learning. Further, success rates in the course improved dramatically.