MYP Design Cycle

The MYP Design Cycle consists of five stages: Investigate, Design, Plan, Create, and Evaluate.

Investigate Stage: The investigation requires a description of the problem and an explanation on why the problem is important. The student must also relate the problem to their own life, to society and to one or more areas of interaction (A.O.I.'s). In addition to this, a couple of questions to guide them through their investigation. Surveys and questionnaires should be conducted and the responses and feedback gathered should be analyzed. A design brief and design specification are also required, as shown above. In the design brief, the student explains what he or she is going to do to solve the problem. In the specification, one should write the essential and desirable characteristics they want their end product to have. The student should also have some tests written down (these will test the product against the specifiation). Research should be conducted and the sources should be in MLA format.

Design Stage: In this stage, the student should include a variety of designs. Each of these designs should be explained with story boards, sketches, or labelled diagrams. The designs should be evaluated against the design specification. Finally, the student should choose one design and justify their reasoning for choosing that design.

Plan Stage: The requirements of the plan stage include the creation of a time line with a Gantt chart. A step-by-step plan and evidence of planning should be included as well. The student should critically evaluate their time plans. If the student has made any modifications to their original design, the changes should be justified.

Create Stage: While following the time plan and working on the creation of his or her product, the student should keep a process journal (this journal will be helpful when writing the evaluation). The tools and techniques utilized in the process of creation should be explained. Any changes made to the final design should be justified. Evidence should also be provided, such as photographs, screen shots, etc.

Evaluate Stage: Finally, the student should include the feedback received from testers in their evaluation. In addition to this, an analysis of the questionnaire results should also be included.
A detailed evaluation of the student's performance at each stage of the design cycle discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each stage is essential, as are observations on how each stage could have been improved. A discussion on the impact of my product on the student, others and/or the environment should be included as well.