IB MYP Design – Product Design and Digital Design Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked examples, use the product and digital design study guide. These notes are for the final weeks before your ePortfolio deadline.

These revision notes are for IB MYP Design and follow the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014, which states that MYP design courses are assessed in one of three forms: product design, digital design, or combined digital and product design. They suit MYP years 4 and 5 (no SL/HL split) and the ePortfolio submitted at the end of year 5. MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – and your school decides which type you follow; your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications.

Links: MYP Design hub · printable checklist · practice questions · design cycle notes · assessment revision notes

Each criterion in depth: A: inquiring and analysing · B: developing ideas · C: creating the solution · D: evaluating. Concepts and contexts: key and related concepts · global contexts and design situations.

Facts from the brief (learn these exactly)

• Assessed as: product design, digital design, or combined digital and product design.
• A solution can be a model, prototype, product or system you create and develop yourself.
• ePortfolio = a design project presented as a complete design folder with a design brief and specification, starting from a design situation.
• Criterion C: plan, then follow the plan to create a prototype sufficient for testing and evaluation.
• Criterion D: design tests, carry them out, evaluate objectively, identify improvements, explain impact on the client or target audience.
• Four equally weighted criteria, each with eight achievement levels (1–8) in four bands.
• Marked by your teacher against the published MYP year 5 criteria; the IB moderates a sample from each school.
• Related concept examples in the brief: adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability, innovation.

Definitions

Term	Meaning
Product design	Solution is a physical object made from materials
Digital design	Solution is on screen or in software: site, app, game, animation, digital media
Combined design	Physical and digital parts that work together as one solution
Design situation	The starting scenario you are given; you find the problem inside it
Design brief	Who the client or audience is and what the solution must do
Specification	Measurable requirements that drive development and are tested in D
Prototype	A working version made to test ideas against the specification
Fidelity	How close a prototype is to the final solution (low → high)
Usability test	Real users do set tasks; you time and observe them
Functional test	Checking each feature does what it should (every link, button, joint, hinge)
Anthropometrics	Body measurement data used to size products

Evidence by criterion

Criterion	Product design	Digital design
A	Existing product analysis; materials research; anthropometric data; client interview	Existing site/app analysis; devices and screen sizes; accessibility; client interview
B	Measurable spec (size, mass, cost, strength, safety); sketches; card models; CAD; working drawings	Measurable spec (platform, load time, task time, contrast); wireframes; site map; flowcharts; storyboards
C	Cutting list; order of operations; tools; safety; time plan; build photos; justified changes	Build plan; asset list; file structure; saved versions; screenshots; justified changes
D	Measure vs drawing; load/drop tests; user trials	Usability tasks; device and browser tests; load time; functional checklist

Combined projects need both columns at every criterion, plus evidence of where the two parts connect (the housing has room for the cable; the app reads what the sensor sends).

Prototype fidelity

	Low fidelity	High fidelity
Product	Card or foam model; scale model	Full-size prototype in real materials; 3D print
Digital	Paper screens; static wireframe	Clickable mock-up; working build

Rule: a prototype can only test what it actually has. A card model can test shape and size, not strength. A static wireframe can test layout, not load time.

Scale: model size = real size ÷ scale factor. A 1:4 model of a 600 mm lamp is 600 ÷ 4 = 150 mm.

Method in steps

Writing a testable specification point

1. Name the feature (strength, task time, cost).
2. Give a number and unit (8 kg; 20 s; 12.00).
3. Say how it will be tested (load at centre; timed task with first-time users).
4. Say what counts as a pass (no more than 3 mm sag; at least 90% succeed).

Running a digital usability test

1. Choose testers from the target audience who have not seen the design.
2. Give each the same task in the same words (“Find this week’s timetable”).
3. Do not help. Time them and note where they hesitate or click wrongly.
4. Compare with the spec: count how many met the target, as a percentage.
5. Use the failures to decide on improvements.

Running a product test

1. Link the test to one spec point.
2. Fix the method: same load position, same drop height, same tools to measure.
3. Record results in a table with units.
4. Compare with the target; state pass or fail for each.
5. Suggest a specific change (thicker board, extra bracket) and retest if you can.

Small worked reminders

• Percentage of users: 9 of 12 testers succeed → 9 ÷ 12 × 100 = 75%.
• Mean vs proportion: times 12, 18, 9, 25, 14, 31, 11, 16 s → mean 17.0 s (under 20 s) but only 6 of 8 = 75% under 20 s. If the spec asks for 90% of users, it is not met.
• Budget check: plywood 4.20 + acrylic 3.60 + screws 0.90 + finish 2.50 = 11.20, which is 0.80 under a 12.00 budget.
• Anthropometrics: size an opening for the 95th percentile plus clearance. Fictional hand breadth at the 95th percentile of 84 mm plus 10 mm clearance → 94 mm opening.

Must-know distinctions

• Product vs digital: physical object made from materials vs solution on a screen or in software. Same criteria, different evidence.
• Combined vs two separate projects: in combined design the parts work together; you test the link between them, not just each part alone.
• Design brief vs specification: the brief says what is needed and for whom; the spec lists measurable requirements.
• Model vs prototype: a model often shows appearance or scale; a prototype is made to be tested against the spec. The brief allows either as a solution.
• Low vs high fidelity: quick and cheap for early ideas vs close to final for real performance tests.
• Usability vs functional testing: can people use it easily vs does each feature work.
• User trial vs your own opinion: evaluation must rest on test results, not on “I think it works”.
• Mean vs percentage meeting a target: read what the spec point actually asks for.

Related concepts and global contexts by type

• Ergonomics: handle and seat sizes (product); touch-target size and text size (digital).
• Sustainability: materials and taking apart for recycling (product); small files, working on older devices (digital).
• Adaptation: changing an existing product for a new user (product); layout adapting to screen size (digital).
• Innovation: new combinations, such as a physical object given a digital function (combined).
• 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.

Quick self-test

1. Name the three ways the brief says MYP design courses are formally assessed.
2. Give two kinds of solution the brief says an MYP design solution can be.
3. Give one piece of Criterion B evidence typical of digital design but not product design.
4. Why can a 1:5 card model not show that a full-size plywood shelf is strong enough?
5. A 1:4 model is made of a 600 mm tall lamp. How tall is the model?
6. In an app test, 12 of 15 testers complete the task. What percentage is that?
7. Rewrite “the app must be fast” as a testable specification point.
8. State the difference between a usability test and a functional test.
9. In a combined project, what extra evidence is needed beyond evidence for each part?
10. Which percentile of body data should you use to size a door handle opening, and why?
11. Name the four related-concept examples the brief gives for MYP design.

Answers

1. Product design; digital design; combined digital and product design.
2. Any two of: model, prototype, product, system.
3. Any one of: wireframe, site map, flowchart of app logic, storyboard of screens.
4. Card at scale does not have the stiffness or strength of plywood at full size, so the model can test shape and proportion only.
5. 600 ÷ 4 = 150 mm.
6. 12 ÷ 15 × 100 = 80%.
7. For example: “The home screen loads in under 3 seconds on the school wifi on each of five test devices.”
8. Usability: can real users do a task easily and quickly. Functional: does each feature (link, button, hinge) work as intended.
9. Evidence that the two parts work together – planning where they connect and testing the link, such as the page updating when the sensor reads dry.
10. The 95th percentile (plus clearance), so that almost all users, including those with larger hands, can fit.
11. Adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability, innovation.

Where marks are usually lost

• Specification points with no number, unit or pass condition (“strong”, “user-friendly”).
• Digital projects with screenshots of the final site only, and no build steps or saved versions.
• Product projects with a finished photo but no cutting list or order of operations.
• Using a low-fidelity prototype to claim results it cannot give (strength from card, speed from a wireframe).
• Testing with one or two friends and no set task.
• Reporting a mean when the spec asks what percentage of users met the target.
• Combined projects that plan and test only one part, or never test the connection.
• Changes to the plan made without a stated reason.
• No explanation of the solution’s impact on the client or target audience in Criterion D.

Official syllabus

These notes are aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014.