Design Folder Sustainable Design - Sewciety - Jane Doe (7DET8)

Criterion B: Developing Ideas 

 

B1: Design specifications 

The success criteria for your project 
 
The design specification is a measuring stick for success. You will use this when evaluating 
your design ideas, evaluating your chosen design and when reflecting on the quality of your 
finished product. The design specification also communicates your understanding of what is 
most crucially needed in your product.  
 
Tips for developing your design specification 
 
1. Use ​this example​ as a layout for your design specification. Be to the point. Keep your 
writing to a minimum. The slides can also be found h ​ ere​. 
2. The success criteria should be phrased in a way that does not unnecessarily restrict 
your design possibilities. On the contrary: It should make you think about 
possibilities. 
3. The success criteria should allow meaningful evaluation.  
 
Bad and better examples 
Bad  Better 

“The chair is a success if it is red.”  “The chair should have colours attractive to 
  toddlers.” 
   
- Restricts the design possibilities (red only)   - Does not restrict the colour of the design  
- Is a yes/no type of statement.   - Can be given an opinion about 
 

“The table should be 80cm high.”  “The table should have a height that allows 
  all family members to comfortable1 eat 
- Restricts the design possibilities   dinner.​”  
(80cm - not 81cm or height adjustable)    
- Is a yes/no type of statement.   - Opens up to design ideas 
- Can be given an opinion about 
 
   

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Possible qualifying adjectives for success criteria: Accurately, Adequately, Amply, Appropriately, 
Authentically, Believably, Clearly, Comfortably, Compellingly, Consistently, Convincingly, Credibly, 
Effectively, Ethically, Fairly, Reasonably, Sensibly, Significantly, Soundly, Sustainably. 

 
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 Design Folder Sustainable Design - Sewciety - Jane Doe (7DET8)

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you come up with design 
specifications: 
 
● What would make the product a success for my client? Your answers are success 
criteria! 
● What would make the product a success for a wider group of end-users? Your 
answers are success criteria! 
● What would make the product as a whole a success? Your answers are success 
criteria! 
● What would make the different parts of the product a success? Your answers are 
success criteria! 
 
 
Use this template for developing your design specifications: 
 

#  My product is a success if..  This is particularly important  Some initial design ideas I  Does it 
for my project..  have to achieve this are..  allow for 
an 
opinion? 

1  The material is soft and doesn’t  My old T-shirt is made by I will use the my t-shirt to make YES 
scratch the phone.  cotton, cotton by nature is a the phone charger holder for
   soft which means It can protect the t- shirt is made from cotton.
the phone well and can  
effectively prevent the phone
from being scratched. 

2  The colour is appealing to the  In my research, I found out
client.  that young men love brighter
  colour than dark one, so the
colour of my project can let
people use mine instead of
others.
Look at colour palette website  
and find complimentary colours YES 
that match the colour of my
t-shirt.
 

3  The phone charger holder is in  The product is at the right size
the right size,   so it can fit different bags and
pockets to meet the different
needs of different people. I will
make sure it can fit in the
nomarl pocket and fit in the
different layers of schoolbag.
I find the nomal person’s YES 
pocket is 18cm width and 21cm
tall and the new iphone is ​15cm
tall, 7.5cm widyh. So the size of
the phone charger holder
should be somewhere between
this two size.

4  beautiful and interesting  The beautiful decoration and  I will sew a button in the  YES 
decoration on my phone charger  the simple design can let my  middle and make the green and 
holder. (​ button, interesting  product look more shop  yellow part as the interesting 
pattern​)  bought, which makes the  pattern. 
phone ​charger holder more
sustainable so more user will
believe that the phone charger

 
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 Design Folder Sustainable Design - Sewciety - Jane Doe (7DET8)

holder isn’t made from an old

thing.

5  Cotton can be anti-static.  The cotton make the phone I will use my old T-shirt to  YES 
charger holder safe, because make the phone charger 
cotton is anti-static. When the holder. 
phone charger is charging and  
it is near to the socket, the
phone charger holder will
generate a lot of static
electricity.  

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Design Folder Sustainable Design - Sewciety - Jane Doe (7DET8)

B1: Assessment 

Level  Descriptor  Typical features of student work 

0  The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below. 

1-2  The student ​states​ o

​ ne  ❏ The success criterion is generic. I.e. applicable to many projects. 
basic success criterion  ❏ The success criterion only covers a very small part of the 
for a solution.  product features that would lead to success. 
❏ The success criterion restricts design options unnecessarily. 
❏ The success criterion is a ‘checklist type’ statement. 

3-4  The student ​states​ a

​   ❏ The success criteria are generic. I.e. applicable to many projects. 
few​ success criteria for  ❏ The success criteria only cover part of the product features that 
the solution.  would lead to success. 
❏ A few success criteria restrict design options unnecessarily. 
❏ Some success criteria are ‘checklist type’ statements. 

5-6  The student ​develops a  ❏ Most success criteria are project-specific. 

few s​ uccess criteria for  ❏ The success criteria cover most features that would lead to 
the solution.  success. 
❏ Most success criteria are qualitative statements that allow an 
opinion and testing possibilities are considered 
❏ Most success criteria are concise and clearly phrased. 

7-8  The student ​develops​ ​a  ❏ The success criteria cover most or all features that would lead to 
list of​ s​ uccess criteria  success. 
for the solution.  ❏ All success criteria are concise and clearly phrased. 
❏ All success criteria are qualitative statements that allow an 
opinion. 
❏ The presented initial design ideas demonstrate in-depth 
research and empathy for the end-users.. 

 
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