Lesson 34 · Unit 4
IA Day 10 —
Evaluate Concepts
Use design specifications, testing and user feedback to evaluate your feasible ideas, identify a current front-runner and expose unresolved questions.
80 minutesIA Criterion C
Specifications
User feedback
Evaluate
Guiding question: How can evidence—not preference—identify a current front-runner and reveal what still needs checking?01
Today’s destination
By the end of class, you should be able to…
01
Evaluate—not describe
Make a judgement using evidence.
02
Use specifications
Test ideas against requirements that matter.
03
Use user feedback
Include intended-user/client evidence in the comparison.
04
Identify a front-runner
Use current evidence to identify the strongest direction without treating the judgement as irreversible.
Success check: Leave with an evidence-based provisional judgement plus the questions that later material, feasibility and sustainability learning must resolve.
IA DAY · Criterion C evidence checkpoint02
Criterion C · evaluation
Evaluation asks: “How well does each idea meet the evidence?”
Specifications
Use relevant essential/desirable requirements as criteria.
Testing
Use models/drawings/CAD evidence where appropriate.
User feedback
Bring the intended user/client back into the decision.
The strongest band evaluates the ideas against specifications through testing and user feedback—not simply states differences.
IA Criterion C · evaluate the redesign ideas03
Evidence board
| Criterion | Idea A | Idea B | Idea C | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential: one-hand use | Strong | Weak | Medium | Task test + observation |
| Essential: fits storage envelope | Pass | Pass | Fail | Dimension check |
| Desirable: visual clarity | Medium | Strong | Strong | User preference + annotated render |
A matrix organizes evidence. Your annotation/explanation still needs to interpret what the result means.
Organize the comparison—then explain the judgement04
Description
“Idea B has the biggest handle.”
→
Evaluation
“Idea B’s larger handle improved grip confidence in user testing, but it exceeds the storage-width specification; Idea A therefore provides the better balance for the intended context.”
Evidence + consequence + judgement = evaluation.
Use IB command term: evaluate05
60+
Build your provisional concept judgement.
Select discriminating specifications
Choose criteria that actually reveal meaningful differences.
Choose criteria that actually reveal meaningful differences.
Test / collect feedback
Use an appropriate representation and intended-user/client input.
Use an appropriate representation and intended-user/client input.
Evaluate all three ideas
Explain strengths, weaknesses, trade-offs and evidence.
Explain strengths, weaknesses, trade-offs and evidence.
Create annotated presentation evidence
Make the current comparison understandable to a reader.
Make the current comparison understandable to a reader.
IA studio · evidence → judgement06
Conference questions
Be ready to answer these without guessing.
1
Which specification is essential—and what evidence proves whether each idea meets it?
2
What did the intended user say or do that influenced your decision?
3
Where is the biggest trade-off among your three ideas?
4
Why is your current front-runner stronger overall, not merely your favourite?
5
What uncertainty remains for the next prototype cycle?
If your answer begins only with “I think…” find the evidence.
Teacher conference · Criterion C07
Self-audit
1
All three feasible ideas are compared against relevant design specifications.
2
I include testing evidence and user/client feedback.
3
I evaluate trade-offs rather than simply score ideas.
4
My current front-runner follows from the evidence, and I have recorded what could still change the judgement.
5
My annotated presentation is readable and traceable to previous research.
Save your evidence. The judgement can be revisited when later material, feasibility or sustainability evidence changes what is possible.
Criterion C · strand 2 quality check08
Exit ticket
Before you leave…
1. Identify the specification that most strongly separates your ideas.
2. Record one user/client feedback point that changed your judgement.
3. State the current front-runner, the evidence supporting it and one unresolved question that could still change the decision.
Next lesson
How Designers Classify Materials
Keep the evidence chain moving: user → research → decision → test.
Before next class
Organize today’s evidence while it is fresh. Make sure each design decision can be traced to research, testing or intended-user evidence.
Organize today’s evidence while it is fresh. Make sure each design decision can be traced to research, testing or intended-user evidence.
Lesson complete9 slides
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IB Design Technology SL · Lesson 3409