Criterion A (Inquiring and Analyzing): Identity and Purpose Drive the Design Challenge

Students begin by asking “Who am I as a designer, and where do I want to go?”
They identify personal interests, strengths, unknown skills, and long-term goals. This investigation establishes a meaningful design need rooted in personal growth rather than an artificial prompt.

This phase fulfills Criterion A (Inquiring and Analyzing) by:

• Defining a clear, justified goal

• Researching skills, tools, and existing examples

• Writing a focused, personal design brief

Criterion B (Developing Ideas): Learning Comes Before Making

The 70/30 model emphasizes :

• 70% exploration, learning, planning, and ideation

• 30% execution

Students explore multiple pathways, define success criteria, plan timelines, and select learning strategies that will stretch their abilities. The emphasis is on thinking deeply before building anything.

This aligns directly with Criterion B (Developing Ideas) by:

• Generating and selecting feasible approaches

• Creating realistic plans tied to skill development

• Justifying decisions based on research and goals

Criterion C (Creating the Solution): Creation Is Iterative and Documented

During production, students apply technical skills while documenting their process daily. Journals capture experimentation, mistakes, changes, and problem-solving, not just progress.

The solution may be a product, system, digital artifact, or portfolio evidence; the key is that it demonstrates growth and technical application, not perfection.

This fulfills Criterion C (Creating the Solution) by:

• Demonstrating skillful use of tools and techniques

• Following and adapting plans

• Showing iteration through evidence and reflection

Criterion D (Evaluating): Evaluation Focuses on Growth, Not Just the Outcome

Students conclude by evaluating both the solution and themselves as designers. They assess success against their criteria, present evidence of learning, and identify next steps for improvement.

This exceeds minimum IB expectations for Criterion D (Evaluating) by:

• Evaluating effectiveness using evidence

• Reflecting on skill growth and learning trajectory

• Proposing meaningful improvements and future directions

As part of the Middle Years Program (MYP), design challenges all students to:

• apply practical and creative thinking skills to solve design problems

• explore the role of design in both historical and contemporary contexts

• consider their responsibilities when making design decisions and taking action. 

MYP design focuses a holistic design process rather than final products and solutions.

Criterion A: Inquiring and analyzing

 At the end of year 5, students should be able to: 

i. explain and justify the need for a solution to a problem for a specified client/target audience

ii. identify and prioritize primary and secondary research needed to develop a solution to the problem

iii. analyze a range of existing products that inspire a solution to the problem 

iv. develop a detailed design brief, which summarizes the analysis of relevant research. 

Criterion B: Developing ideas: 

At the end of year 5, students should be able to: 

i. develop design specifications, which clearly states the success criteria for the design of a solution 

ii. develop a range of feasible design ideas, which can be correctly interpreted by others 

iii. present the chosen design and justify its selection 

iv. develop accurate and detailed planning drawings/diagrams and outline the requirements for the creation of the chosen solution. 

Criterion C: Creating the solution 

At the end of year 5, students should be able to: 

i. construct a logical plan, which describes the efficient use of time and resources, sufficient for peers to be able to follow to create the solution

ii. demonstrate excellent technical skills when making the solution 

iii. follow the plan to create the solution, which functions as intended

iv. fully justify changes made to the chosen design and plan when making the solution 

v. present the solution as a whole. 

Criterion D: Evaluating 

At the end of year 5, students should be able to: 

i. design detailed and relevant testing methods, which generate data, to measure the success of the solution 

ii. critically evaluate the success of the solution against the design specification 

iii. explain how the solution could be improved 

iv. explain the impact of the solution on the client/target audience.