IB MYP Design – Product Design and Digital Design Study Guide

This study guide is for IB MYP Design and follows the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014. The brief states that MYP design courses are assessed in one of three forms: product design, digital design, or combined digital and product design; this page explains what that means for the evidence you produce at each stage of the design cycle, and how prototyping and testing differ between the types. It suits MYP years 4 and 5 (there is no SL/HL split in the MYP) and the ePortfolio you submit at the end of year 5.

MYP has no prescribed content list – schools design their own units – so this page covers a point the IB’s brief states directly, plus standard design practice. Your school decides which type of design course you follow, and your teacher will share the task-specific clarifications for your ePortfolio.

Quick links: MYP Design hub · printable checklist · revision notes for this unit · practice questions for this unit. For the four stages themselves, read the design cycle first; for the criteria in general, see criteria in practice.

What this unit covers

Area	What you must be able to do	Level
The three assessed types	Say what product, digital and combined design mean, and give examples of each	MYP years 4–5
Evidence by stage	Describe the evidence a product or a digital solution produces for Criteria A, B, C and D	MYP years 4–5
Prototyping	Choose a suitable prototype (model, mock-up, build) for each type and say why it is “sufficient for testing”	MYP years 4–5
Testing	Plan tests that measure a solution against its specification, and read simple test data	MYP years 4–5
Concepts and contexts	Link a solution to related concepts (adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability, innovation) and a global context	MYP years 4–5

What the brief actually says

The IB’s public brief prints only these facts on this topic:

• MYP design courses are assessed in one of three forms: product design, digital design, or combined digital and product design.
• In MYP design, a solution can be a model, prototype, product or system that you create and develop yourself.
• The ePortfolio starts from a design situation. You identify a problem, research, develop and create a product or solution, then evaluate its success. It is presented as a complete design folder containing a design brief and specification.
• Criterion C asks you to plan the creation of your chosen solution and follow the plan to make a prototype sufficient for testing and evaluation.
• Criterion D asks you to design tests, carry them out, evaluate the solution objectively, identify improvements and explain its impact on the client or target audience.
• Your teacher marks the ePortfolio against the published criteria for MYP year 5. The IB moderates a sample from each school.

Everything below about materials, software, prototypes and tests is general design practice, not an IB list.

The three types in plain terms

Product design means your solution is a physical object. You work with materials, tools and making processes. Examples: a storage unit, a wearable, a piece of packaging, a toy, a lamp.

Digital design means your solution lives on a screen or in software. You work with code, digital media and interface design. Examples: a website, an app, a game, an animation, an interactive presentation, a digital poster campaign.

Combined digital and product design means the solution has both a physical part and a digital part that work together. Examples: a board game with a companion scoring app; a sensor housing you make, linked to a web page that shows the readings; packaging with a scannable code that opens an instruction video you made.

The design cycle and the four criteria are the same for all three. What changes is the evidence, the tools and the tests.

Evidence at each stage of the design cycle

Stage (criterion)	Product design evidence	Digital design evidence
Inquiring and analysing (A)	Client interview; analysis of existing products; materials research; anthropometric data	Client interview; analysis of existing apps or sites; target devices and screen sizes; accessibility needs
Developing ideas (B)	Specification with sizes, materials, cost, safety; annotated sketches; CAD; working drawings	Specification with platform, load time, content, accessibility; wireframes; flowcharts; site maps; storyboards
Creating the solution (C)	Cutting list; sequence of operations; tools and equipment; safety notes; photos of the build; justified changes	Development plan; asset list; file structure; version saves; screenshots of each build; justified changes
Evaluating (D)	Measurements against the spec; load, drop or durability tests; user trials	Usability tests with set tasks; tests on different devices and browsers; functional checklists

Criterion A: the same questions, different research

In both types you analyse the need and research the problem. The difference is what you research.

• Product: how people physically use similar objects, body measurements (anthropometrics), material properties, how existing products are made.
• Digital: how users move through similar sites or apps, your audience’s devices and connection speeds, reading level and accessibility needs.

Criterion B: making the specification testable

A specification drives development. Each point should be measurable, so that you can test it later in Criterion D.

• Weak (product): “The shelf must be strong.” Strong: “The shelf must hold 8 kg with no more than 3 mm sag at the centre.”
• Weak (digital): “The site must be easy to use.” Strong: “At least 90% of first-time users find the timetable page in under 20 seconds.”

Design ideas look different too. A product designer shows annotated sketches, card models and CAD views. A digital designer shows wireframes, a site map of how pages link, and a flowchart for any logic (for example, what happens when a quiz answer is wrong).

Criterion C: plans you can follow

A plan in product design is usually a sequence of making steps with tools, materials, time and safety for each. In digital design it is a sequence of build steps: set up the file structure, build the page template, add content, add interactions, test on devices. Both need you to record changes to the plan and give a reason for each.

Prototyping in each type

A prototype does not need to be the finished, polished product. It must be sufficient for testing and evaluation – enough to measure it against your specification.

Fidelity means how close the prototype is to the final solution:

	Low fidelity	High fidelity
Product	Card or foam model; scale model	Full-size prototype in the real materials; 3D print
Digital	Paper prototype (screens drawn on paper); static wireframe	Clickable mock-up; working build of the site or app

Low fidelity is quick and cheap, for early ideas. High fidelity is needed when a test depends on real properties: strength, weight, load time, a working button.

Worked example: a scale model. You design a display stand 900 mm tall and 350 mm wide. You make a 1:5 card model first.

Model height = 900 ÷ 5 = 180 mm
Model width  = 350 ÷ 5 = 70 mm

The model lets you test proportions with your client, but not strength: card at 1:5 tells you nothing about how full-size plywood carries a load.

Testing in each type

Every test should link to a spec point, state its method, and record results you can compare with the target.

Product tests include measuring dimensions against the drawing, load or drop tests, timing how long a task takes with the product, and user trials with the target group.

Digital tests include usability tests (give testers a task and time them), checking each link and button works (a functional checklist), testing on several devices and browsers, and measuring load time.

Worked example 1 (digital): reading usability results

Specification: “At least 90% of first-time users find the timetable page in under 20 seconds.” Eight testers (fictional data) took these times in seconds: 12, 18, 9, 25, 14, 31, 11, 16.

Mean = (12 + 18 + 9 + 25 + 14 + 31 + 11 + 16) ÷ 8 = 136 ÷ 8 = 17.0 s
Under 20 s: 12, 18, 9, 14, 11, 16 → 6 of 8 = 75%
Target: 90% of 8 = 7.2, so all 8 testers were needed

The mean (17.0 s) is under 20 s, but the spec is about the proportion of users, and only 75% succeeded, so it is not met. A good evaluation says so and asks what the two slow testers clicked first.

Worked example 2 (product): reading load-test results

Specification: “The shelf holds 8 kg with no more than 3 mm sag at the centre.” Fictional results:

Load (kg)	2	4	6	8
Sag (mm)	0.6	1.3	2.1	3.4

The shelf passes at 6 kg and fails at 8 kg. Assuming the sag rises steadily between 6 kg and 8 kg:

Extra sag allowed after 6 kg = 3 − 2.1 = 0.9 mm
Sag per extra 2 kg = 3.4 − 2.1 = 1.3 mm
Estimated safe load ≈ 6 + 2 × (0.9 ÷ 1.3) ≈ 7.4 kg

So the spec is not met. Improvements could include a thicker board, a bracket nearer the centre, or a stiffer material – and you would test again.

Worked example: a combined project

Design situation (original): pupils in a primary classroom forget to water the class plants.

• A: interview the teacher; observe the classroom; research soil-moisture sensors and simple web dashboards; note that the pupils are 7–8 years old, so the screen needs pictures and very little text.
• B: specification includes a physical point (“the sensor housing fits a pot 120 mm across and survives splashes”) and a digital point (“the page shows a clear ‘water me’ picture within one minute of the soil reading dry”). Ideas: sketches and CAD of the housing; wireframes of the page.
• C: a plan with two strands – making the housing (3D print, fit test, seal) and building the page (layout, image, link to readings). Record where the two meet: the housing must leave room for the cable.
• D: product test – splash the housing and check the sensor still reads; digital test – dry the soil ten times on purpose and count reminders. If 9 of 10 dry readings produce the reminder, that is 90%. You then decide whether 90% meets your spec, and trace the missed one.

A combined project needs both kinds of evidence at every stage. A common weakness is strong making evidence with thin digital evidence, or the reverse.

Related concepts across the types

The brief gives adaptation, ergonomics, sustainability and innovation as examples of related concepts in MYP design. Each looks different by type:

• Ergonomics: product – fit the handle to hand sizes from anthropometric data; digital – make touch targets big enough for fingertips and text readable at arm’s length.
• Sustainability: product – material choice, how the object can be taken apart and recycled; digital – small file sizes, working on older devices so people do not need new ones.
• Adaptation: product – adapting an existing product for a new user; digital – a layout that adapts to different screen sizes.
• Innovation: a new combination of known parts, such as a digital reminder for an ordinary plant pot.

Your unit will also sit in one of the six global contexts. For example, the plant project fits Globalization and sustainability if its focus is saving water, or Identities and relationships if its focus is pupils taking responsibility.

Common errors

• A specification that cannot be measured, so Criterion D tests have nothing to check against.
• Testing only with friends who say “it looks good” instead of set tasks and measured results.
• Using a card model to claim a product is strong, or a static wireframe to claim a site loads quickly.
• In combined projects, planning and testing only one of the two parts.
• Quoting a mean when the specification talks about a percentage of users.

Next steps

Recall the key points with the revision notes, try the practice questions, and plan your folder with ePortfolio exam preparation and the syllabus guide.

Official syllabus

This guide is aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Design, from 2014.