- Which DT IA Model Applies to You?
- The Design Project for May and November 2026 Exams
- The New Design Project for 2027 Exams Onwards
- What Makes a Strong Design Technology IA?
- Start With Real Users and Measurable Requirements
- Justify Design Decisions Throughout the Process
- Testing and Evaluation Need Real Evidence
- DT IA Ideas and Examples
- Common Design Technology IA Mistakes
Quick Answer
The Design Technology IA is the design project. If you sit exams in May or November 2026, the old guide applies: about 40 hours at SL or 60 at HL, worth 40%, marked on criteria A to D plus E and F at HL. From May 2027 the new guide applies: a 50-hour redesign project, up to 3,500 words, 33 marks, worth 40% at SL and 30% at HL.
What You'll Learn
- Exams in May or November 2026 use the previous design project; exams from May 2027 use the new one, first taught from August 2025
- Previous model: about 40 hours (SL) or 60 hours (HL), 40% of the grade, four criteria at SL and six at HL, each worth 9 marks
- New model: a 50-hour project to redesign an existing product, up to 3,500 words, 33 marks, with the same criteria at SL and HL
- In the new model the IA is worth 40% at SL and 30% at HL, and Paper 3 has been removed
- In both models, marks follow evidence of user research, justified decisions, testing and honest evaluation, not a polished final product
Which DT IA Model Applies to You?
The IB published a new Design Technology guide for first teaching in August 2025, with first assessment in May 2027. Your exam session decides which design project you complete, so confirm it with your teacher before you start planning.
- May or November 2026 exams: the previous guide applies. The design project takes about 40 hours at SL and 60 hours at HL and is worth 40% of the final grade at both levels.
- May 2027 exams onwards: the new guide applies. The design project takes 50 hours, has a maximum of 3,500 words, is marked out of 33 and is worth 40% at SL and 30% at HL.
- New exam papers from May 2027: SL sits Paper 1 (1 hour, 20%) and Paper 2 (1 hour 30 minutes, 40%). HL sits Paper 1 (1 hour 30 minutes, 25%) and Paper 2 (2 hours 30 minutes, 45%). Paper 3 has been removed.
Watch Out
Most DT IA guides, rubrics and exemplars online were written for the previous guide. They are still right for 2026 candidates, but if you sit your exams in 2027 or later, check every piece of advice against the new criteria.
The Design Project for May and November 2026 Exams
Under the previous guide, the design project follows the design cycle from identifying a problem to testing a final solution. SL and HL share four criteria, and HL adds two more about commercial production. Each criterion is worth 9 marks, so SL projects are marked out of 36 and HL projects out of 54. The project is worth 40% of the grade at both levels, with about 40 hours of work at SL and 60 at HL.
- A. Analysis of a design opportunity: identify a real problem for a client or target audience, research it and turn it into a clear design brief
- B. Conceptual design: develop a design specification and a range of feasible ideas, then choose and justify one
- C. Development of a detailed design: turn the chosen idea into a detailed, workable design and make a prototype
- D. Testing and evaluation: test the prototype against the specification, judge how well it succeeds and recommend improvements
- E and F (HL only): two further criteria on developing the design for commercial production and justifying the production choices involved
Pro Tip
Your teacher will tell you the page or word limits that apply to your submission. Keep the folio lean: moderators reward clear evidence for each criterion, not volume.
The New Design Project for 2027 Exams Onwards
The new design project is an open-ended task in which you identify, analyse, evaluate and redesign an existing product to meet the needs of one or more intended users. It explicitly follows a design thinking process, and you must build a physical fidelity model to use for testing and evaluation. Projects can come from any field of design, including product design, robotics, textiles, architecture and food. SL and HL students complete the same project with the same 50 hours, 3,500-word limit and criteria, marked out of 33. Accurate subject-specific vocabulary is rewarded across all the criteria.
- A. Empathize: research the intended users and how the existing product fails them
- B. Defining the project: turn that research into a clear brief and measurable requirements
- C. Ideation and modelling: generate a range of distinct ideas and model them to test their potential
- D. Designing a solution: develop the chosen idea into a detailed, justified design
- E. Presenting a solution: present the final solution and the evidence that it meets the users' needs
Pro Tip
The new assessment language is more quantifiable. For example, the clarifications state the range of ideas expected and image requirements per page for some criteria. Ask your teacher for the current clarifications and use them as a checklist.
What Makes a Strong Design Technology IA?
In either model, Design Technology IAs are strongest when they show a traceable design process: a real user need, requirements that come from research, a range of ideas, decisions justified with evidence, and testing that judges the result honestly. Examiners want to see why your design changed over time, not just what the final idea looks like.
- Every requirement can be traced back to user research
- Every major decision is justified against those requirements
- Models and prototypes are used to learn something, not just to illustrate
- Testing produces evidence, ideally numbers, that feeds the evaluation
Pro Tip
A strong DT IA shows how and why your design changed over time. Annotate each iteration with what you tested, what you learned and what you changed as a result.
Start With Real Users and Measurable Requirements
In the 2026 model your problem usually comes from a client or target audience. In the 2027 model you start from an existing product and the people it does not serve well. Either way, a convincing IA turns user needs into requirements that you can test later.
- Identify who the user is and what problem they have, using observation, interviews or surveys
- For the 2027 model, analyse the existing product first: what it does well, where it fails the user and why
- Turn each need into a specific, measurable requirement, for example a maximum mass, a grip force or a set-up time
- Consider materials, ergonomics, sustainability, cost and manufacture where relevant
- Keep the problem narrow enough to solve and test properly in the time available
Justify Design Decisions Throughout the Process
Weaker DT IAs show design ideas but never explain why one option beats another. Stronger projects compare options against the requirements, justify materials and construction choices, and explain how the design evolved in response to testing, user feedback or practical constraints.
- 1Generate genuinely different ideas, not variations on one shape
- 2Compare them against your requirements, for example in a weighted decision matrix
- 3Explain why your final concept was selected and what you gave up
- 4Justify material, component and manufacturing choices with properties and data
- 5Show each iteration and the evidence that triggered it
- 6Keep linking decisions back to the original requirements
Testing and Evaluation Need Real Evidence
Plan your tests when you write your requirements, not at the end. Each requirement should have a test that can show whether it was met. In the 2027 model, the physical fidelity model is what you test, so build it to answer specific questions.
- Test function, usability, durability and fit with the user, matching each test to a requirement
- Collect numbers where you can, such as forces, times, dimensions or user ratings
- Test with real users and record their feedback in their own words
- Explain what each test shows, not just that it happened
- Evaluate strengths, weaknesses and realistic improvements, ranked by how much they matter to the user
Watch Out
A weak evaluation says the product was successful without evidence. A strong one explains exactly where it met or failed each requirement and what that means for the user.
DT IA Ideas and Examples
These ideas are illustrative starting points. Each names a user, an existing product and a measurable need, which suits the 2027 redesign brief and also works as a problem for the 2026 model.
- A kitchen utensil redesigned for a user with arthritis, tested on grip force and task time
- A phone or tablet stand redesigned for students who study away from a desk, tested on stability and viewing angle
- A school bag redesigned to reduce shoulder load, tested by measuring how weight is distributed
- A plant watering system with a soil moisture sensor for someone who travels often, tested on water delivered over a week
- Adaptive clothing fastenings for a user with limited dexterity, tested on dressing time
- A bike light mount redesigned for quick removal, tested on fitting time and vibration
- A bus shelter seating module modelled at scale for older users, tested on seat height and access
- A desk organiser redesigned for a left-handed user, tested on reach distances
- A pet feeder redesigned with a timer for an owner who works long hours, tested on portion accuracy
- A reusable lunch container redesigned to stop leaks, tested on seal performance and ease of cleaning
Watch Out
Avoid projects that rely on machines, materials or software you cannot access regularly. A modest redesign that you can model, test and improve scores better than an ambitious idea that never reaches a testable model.
Common Design Technology IA Mistakes
These problems regularly limit scores in DT projects. An IB Design Technology tutor can explain, using examples rather than your own project, what a tight design specification and a justified development decision look like.
- Following a rubric or exemplar written for the wrong guide
- A vague user or client, with requirements that come from the designer rather than research
- Requirements that cannot be measured, such as making the product look nice
- Little justification for design choices
- Minimal iteration, or iterations shown without the evidence that caused them
- Testing that is superficial or disconnected from the requirements
- An evaluation that describes the product but does not judge it critically