IB MYP Design – Key and related concepts in design Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked examples, start with the key and related concepts study guide. These notes are for fast recall in the final weeks.

They are aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014, and suit MYP years 4 and 5, including students preparing the design ePortfolio. There is no SL/HL split in the MYP. MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – so these notes cover what the IB’s brief does list: its key concepts and related-concept examples for design, and the factual, conceptual and debatable questions it says the course explores. Your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications for assessed work.

Links: practice questions, course hub, printable checklist, design cycle revision notes, assessment revision notes.

What the brief says (IB facts)

• The MYP promotes inquiry in design by developing conceptual understanding within global contexts.
• Key concepts such as communication, communities, development and systems broadly frame the MYP curriculum.
• Related concepts promote deeper, subject-grounded learning. Examples for design: adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability, innovation.
• You explore key and related concepts through the six global contexts: identities and relationships; orientation in space and time; personal and cultural expression; scientific and technical innovation; globalization and sustainability; fairness and development.
• The curriculum explores factual, conceptual and debatable questions.

Everything else below is standard design knowledge, not wording from the brief.

Definitions at a glance

Concept	Type	One-line definition	Quick design example
Communication	Key	Exchange of information between people, or between product and user	Warning light on a hair straightener
Communities	Key	Groups sharing a place, need, interest or identity	Park seating for older visitors and parents
Development	Key	Growth or change over time, of a product or of your own solution	Prototype 1 → prototype 2 after user testing
Systems	Key	Parts working together: input → process → output, with feedback	Thermostat controlling a heater
Adaptation	Related	Changing a design or borrowed idea to suit a new user, purpose or place	Wide-grip cutlery for limited hand strength
Ergonomics	Related	Fitting products and tasks to the people using them	Seat height set from percentile data
Sustainability	Related	Meeting needs now without harming future generations’ ability to meet theirs	Phone battery held by screws, not glue
Innovation	Related	A new idea or new combination put into successful use	Wheels added to suitcases

Must-know distinctions

• Key vs related concept. Key concepts are broad and shared across MYP subjects. Related concepts belong to the discipline and drive specific design decisions.
• Concept vs topic. “Lighting” is a topic. “Ergonomics” is a concept that applies to lighting, seating and software.
• Invention vs innovation. Invention creates something new. Innovation is new and adopted in use.
• Incremental vs radical innovation. Incremental improves step by step; radical changes how a task is done.
• Adaptation vs development. Adaptation changes a design for a different user or setting. Development improves a design over versions for the same purpose.
• Physical vs physiological vs psychological ergonomics. Sizes; body capability and comfort; perception and feeling.

Ergonomics: percentile rules

Situation	Design for	Why
Clearance (doorway, handle opening, gap)	95th percentile (large user)	If the large user fits, everyone smaller fits
Reach (shelf, switch, control)	5th percentile (small user)	If the small user can reach, everyone larger can
Adjustable (chair, desk)	5th to 95th range	Covers the middle 90% of users
Avoid	50th percentile for everything	“Average” suits few people well

Method in steps – setting a size from data

1. Decide: clearance, reach or adjustable?
2. Choose the percentile (95th, 5th, or both).
3. Read the value for your user group (age, population).
4. Add allowances – shoes, clothing, movement room.
5. State the final size with units and say who it fits.

Worked reminder. Fictional 95th-percentile hand breadth = 88 mm. Handle opening is clearance, allowance 10 mm → 88 + 10 = 98 mm.

Systems: the frame to draw

INPUT  →  PROCESS  →  OUTPUT
  ↑                      |
  └──────  FEEDBACK  ←───┘

Example: a daylight-controlled classroom light. Input: light sensor reading. Process: controller compares it with a set level. Output: lamp brightens or dims. Feedback: the sensor measures the new room brightness, so the lamp settles at the set level.

Statements of inquiry – method in steps

The brief does not print a format; this is the common school method.

1. Pick one key concept.
2. Pick one or two related concepts.
3. Pick one global context.
4. Write one sentence that links them as a general idea.
5. Test it: not a question? No brand or single product? Still true for another product? If yes, keep it.

Worked reminder. Key concept: communities. Related: ergonomics. Context: fairness and development. “Designing for the full range of body sizes in a community decides who is able to use shared spaces.”

Inquiry questions – the three types

Type	Test	Example
Factual	Has one checkable answer	What does the 5th percentile mean?
Conceptual	Asks how or why; links ideas; transfers	How does feedback make a system more reliable?
Debatable	Two informed people could argue either way with evidence	Should designers put appearance before repairability?

Worked reminder – one product, eight concepts

Practise by running every concept over one everyday product. Example: a rechargeable bicycle light.

Concept	What you would say about the light
Communication	A flashing mode tells drivers a cyclist is there; a battery indicator tells the rider when to charge
Communities	Designed for commuters who ride in the dark, but must also be seen by drivers and pedestrians
Development	Early lights used bulbs and disposable batteries; later versions use LEDs and USB charging
Systems	Input: button press. Process: circuit selects mode. Output: light pattern. Feedback: indicator changes as charge falls
Adaptation	A clip adapted from other products lets one light fit handlebars, helmets and bags
Ergonomics	The button must be pressable with gloves on and found by touch in the dark
Sustainability	Recharging removes the waste from disposable batteries; a replaceable battery extends product life
Innovation	Combining LEDs with USB charging is an innovation because riders adopted it widely

Each line names a specific feature and a specific user. That is the habit to build.

Where concepts show up in your design work

Stage of your project	How concepts help
Criterion A – inquiring and analysing	Factual questions shape your research plan; related concepts tell you what to research (for example anthropometric data)
Criterion B – developing ideas	Ergonomic and sustainability points become measurable specification points
Criterion C – creating the solution	Development: record each change you make and why
Criterion D – evaluating	Debatable questions and the statement of inquiry frame the impact on the client or target audience

Quick self-test

1. Name the four key concepts the design brief lists.
2. Name the four related-concept examples the design brief gives.
3. Is “packaging” a concept or a topic?
4. A wall-mounted fire alarm button must be reachable by everyone. Which percentile do you design for?
5. A gap between two desks must let users walk through. The fictional 95th-percentile shoulder width is 480 mm, and you allow 15 mm each side. What gap do you design?
6. Fictional popliteal heights are 380 mm (5th) and 460 mm (95th); shoes add 25 mm. What seat-height range should an adjustable stool cover?
7. What percentage of users does a 5th-to-95th percentile design range fit?
8. Classify: “Should school uniforms be designed to be repaired rather than replaced?”
9. Classify: “How does adaptation widen the group of people a product serves?”
10. What is wrong with this statement of inquiry: “How can we design a better water bottle?”
11. A hearing aid made smaller each year for the same users is an example of which concept: adaptation or development?
12. Give the three parts of a system plus the part that makes it self-correcting.

Answers

1. Communication, communities, development, systems.
2. Adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability, innovation.
3. A topic. A concept, such as sustainability, applies across many topics.
4. 5th percentile – a reach problem.
5. 480 + 15 + 15 = 510 mm.
6. 380 + 25 = 405 mm to 460 + 25 = 485 mm: 405–485 mm (80 mm of adjustment).
7. 90% (the 5th to the 95th percentile).
8. Debatable.
9. Conceptual.
10. It is a question, not a statement, names a single product and states no concept or global context.
11. Development – same users, same purpose, improved over versions.
12. Input, process, output; feedback makes it self-correcting.

Where marks are usually lost

• Naming a concept (“this shows innovation”) without the evidence that makes it true for that product.
• Using a key concept where the task asks for a related concept, or the reverse.
• Designing to the 50th percentile, or choosing the wrong end for clearance and reach.
• Forgetting allowances (shoes, clothing) when turning percentile data into a size.
• Quoting anthropometric data for the wrong user group, such as adult data for a primary-school product.
• Writing a statement of inquiry that is a question or names one product.
• Labelling a question “debatable” when it has one factual answer.
• Calling any new product an “innovation” without showing it was adopted or solved a problem.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014. Key concepts, related-concept examples, global contexts and question types are taken from the brief; the percentile rules and statement-of-inquiry method are standard design practice. All data are fictional.