IB MYP Design – Criterion C – Creating the solution Revision Notes

These revision notes condense Criterion C: Creating the solution for IB MYP Design. They are aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014, which lists Creating the solution as one of four equally weighted criteria. MYP has no SL/HL split; the notes suit MYP years 4 and 5, including the year 5 ePortfolio the IB moderates in each exam session.

MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – so these notes cover a skill the brief’s criteria name. Your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications for real projects. For full explanations and worked examples, use the Criterion C study guide; to practise, use the Criterion C practice questions.

Course links: IB MYP Design hub · printable checklist · design cycle revision notes · criteria in practice revision notes.

The criterion in one line

The brief says you plan the creation of the chosen solution, then follow the plan to create a prototype sufficient for testing and evaluation. Break that into four jobs:

1. Write a logical plan (steps, time, resources).
2. Show technical skill while making.
3. Follow the plan and record what happened.
4. Justify changes to the design or the plan.

Brief facts you can quote: four criteria, equally weighted; each has eight achievement levels (1-8) in four bands; a solution can be a model, prototype, product or system; courses are assessed as product, digital, or combined design; the ePortfolio is a complete design folder marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB on a sample.

Key definitions

Term	Meaning
Logical plan	Steps in an order that works, each with time, resources and a check, clear enough for someone else to follow
Resources	Everything a step needs: materials (size, quantity), tools, machines, software, people, money
Contingency	Spare time kept in the plan for problems
Tolerance	How far a measurement may differ from the drawing and still be accepted (e.g. ±1 mm)
Quality check	A measurement or test done before the next step starts
Production log	A dated record of what was actually done, how long it took, and any problems
Gantt chart	A bar chart of steps against lessons or weeks, showing order, overlap and waiting time
Prototype sufficient for testing	Complete enough that your Criterion D tests can be run on it

What goes in a plan

Column	Why it matters	Example entry
Step number and action	Shows order; one action per step	4 – Heat-bend acrylic arm to 90°
Time	Lets you check the total against lessons available	25 min
Materials	Size and quantity, so nothing runs out	3 mm acrylic, 300 × 40 mm, ×1
Tools / equipment / software	Shows you planned the method	Strip heater, bending jig
Safety	Risk and control	Heat-proof gloves; do not touch the element
Quality check	What must be true before moving on	Angle 90° ± 2° with protractor

Method in steps: checking a time plan

1. Available time = number of lessons × minutes per lesson
2. Planned time   = sum of all step times
3. Contingency    = available − planned
4. Contingency %  = contingency ÷ available × 100
5. If contingency < 0, the plan does not fit: cut, merge
   or move steps outside lesson time (e.g. glue drying overnight)

Worked reminder: 4 lessons of 45 min = 180 min. Steps planned total 150 min. Contingency = 180 − 150 = 30 min, which is 30 ÷ 180 × 100 = 16.7%.

Method in steps: checking cost

1. List every material with quantity and unit price
2. Cost of each line = quantity × unit price
3. Total = sum of lines
4. Compare with the budget in your specification

Worked reminder: 3 hinges at £2.40 and one tube of glue at £1.15 cost 3 × 2.40 + 1.15 = £8.35.

Method in steps: planned vs actual

1. Put planned and actual time side by side for each step
2. Difference = actual − planned (+ means overrun)
3. Overrun %  = difference ÷ planned × 100
4. Say where the time came from (contingency, dropped step)

Worked reminder: planned 50 min, actual 70 min. Difference = +20 min; overrun = 20 ÷ 50 × 100 = 40%.

Showing technical skill – checklist

• Photo or screenshot at each key stage, not just the end.
• Each image annotated: what it shows, the skill, what you checked.
• Measured accuracy against tolerance (“all parts within ±1 mm”).
• A reason for each technique you chose.
• Safe practice shown or noted.
• Digital: short code extracts or before/after screenshots, with how you checked the feature works.

Method in steps: justifying a change

WHAT   -- state the change exactly
WHY    -- the cause, with evidence (fault, test, client, cost)
EFFECT ON SOLUTION -- which specification points may be
          affected; how Criterion D will check them
EFFECT ON PLAN     -- time, resources, order of later steps

Mini-example: “Changed the lid hinge from a printed pin hinge to a metal piano hinge (WHAT) because two printed hinges snapped during the dry-fit (WHY). The lid should now be stronger but the product is 30 g heavier, so I will re-check the weight limit in my specification during testing (EFFECT ON SOLUTION). Fitting takes 15 min more; the hinge is added to the resource list and cost (EFFECT ON PLAN).”

Must-know distinctions

This	Not the same as
Change to the design – the product itself changes (material, joint, size, feature)	Change to the plan – how or when it is made changes (order, time, machine)
Plan – written before making; what you intend	Log – written during making; what actually happened
Justifying a change – cause plus effects	Describing a change – what happened only
Contingency – spare time planned in advance	Overrun – extra time a step actually took
Quality check – during making, before the next step	Testing – after making, against the specification (Criterion D)
Criterion C – plan and create	Criterion B – specify and choose; Criterion D – test and evaluate

Small reminders

• Put steps that involve waiting (glue, paint, 3D printing, software updates) where they will not block a lesson – overnight, or in parallel with another step.
• A Gantt chart makes overlaps visible; a table holds detail. Using both is common.
• Keep the original plan and mark revisions on it. Do not overwrite it.
• Write the log on the day. Dates and real times are evidence.
• Only change what you need to. Each change should link to a cause.

Quick self-test

1. State the two things the brief says you do in Criterion C.
2. Name four kinds of resource a plan should list.
3. You have 4 lessons of 45 minutes and your steps total 150 minutes. Find the contingency in minutes and as a percentage of available time.
4. A step was planned at 50 minutes and took 70. Calculate the overrun as a percentage of the planned time.
5. Give one reason a quality check is written into the plan.
6. A student swaps pine for MDF because the pine had large knots. Is this a change to the design or to the plan?
7. A student moves “apply paint” to after “fit hinges” to avoid scratching. Design change or plan change?
8. List the four parts of a full justification of a change.
9. What does “a prototype sufficient for testing and evaluation” mean in practice?
10. Three hinges cost £2.40 each and glue costs £1.15. Find the total.
11. Why should the original plan be kept, not replaced, after a change?
12. How many achievement levels and bands does each MYP criterion have?

Answers

1. Plan the creation of the chosen solution, then follow the plan to create a prototype sufficient for testing and evaluation.
2. Any four of: materials, tools, machines/equipment, software, people (technician, client), money/cost.
3. Available = 4 × 45 = 180 min. Contingency = 180 − 150 = 30 min = 30 ÷ 180 × 100 = 16.7%.
4. (70 − 50) ÷ 50 × 100 = 40%.
5. It catches errors (for example, parts outside tolerance) before later steps build on them.
6. Design – the product’s material changes.
7. Plan – the order of steps changes; the product does not.
8. What changed; why (with evidence); effect on the solution/specification; effect on the plan.
9. It is complete enough for the Criterion D tests to be carried out on it.
10. 3 × 2.40 + 1.15 = £8.35.
11. So the moderator can see the original intention and exactly what changed.
12. Eight levels (1-8) in four bands.

Where marks are usually lost

• Plan written after the product was made, so steps are vague and times look invented.
• Steps too broad (“make the base”) to show order, time or checks.
• No quantities or sizes for materials; software and people left out of resources.
• Planned times that add up to more than the lessons available, with no contingency.
• No quality checks, so errors are only found at the end.
• Photos of the finished product only, with no stages and no annotation.
• “I followed my plan” with no dated log or actual times.
• Changes made silently, so the product no longer matches the plan and nothing explains why.
• Justifications that give the cause but not the effect on the specification or the plan.
• A prototype left unfinished, so the planned Criterion D tests cannot be run.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014. Published by the International Baccalaureate Organization.