MYP Design Cycle

Name: Class: 7

Please read the text below.

Step 1: INVESTIGATION (Inquiring and Analysing)

The very first step of the design cycle is INVESTIGATION. Basically, this step requires us to
brainstorm and find out what exactly we would want to achieve through this project, and why
we would want to achieve it. Therefore, the design cycle encourages us to ask ourselves first
before starting with anything major or minor: Why am I doing this? What is my purpose? What
are my end goals? What do I want to show my audience? Once these questions have been
answered, we now know what to expect from ourselves, and can therefore start our project
with ease.

Moreover, it would also be great if we further investigate by trying to relate our projects to our
everyday lives. How is it related to us? To our family and friends? To the people? To the world?
By answering such questions, we will be able to generate deeper insights which may help us
better analyze our problem, and eventually, solve it successfully.

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Investigation also requires us to make a design brief and design specification. In a design brief,
we ask ourselves: what would we do, and what are we planning to do, in order to finish our
project? This is very important as it will help us estimate whether or not we have the capacity
to create our outputs. The design brief can serve as a checklist: a list of things to do. It can help
keep us on the right track as we go about in the making of our project.

A design specification, on the other hand, is where we write the desired characteristics that we
want our end product to have. For example, if we would make a project involving love in
valentine’s day, then it would be best if our design specification would include traits such as
heart-warming, touching, joyful, colorful, and loving. By knowing what characteristics we would
want our end product to have, we can better picture how it would look like. By doing such, we
will be able to reach our desired goal easily and successfully.

STEP 2: DESIGN (Developing Ideas)

Next up in the design cycle is our second step, DESIGN. This is fairly simple – all we need is pen,
paper and a wild imagination to draw and sketch out our project designs. For this step, the use
of storyboards, diagrams, scripts, and the like are recommended. Moreover, we must not
forget to explain how exactly we came up with these designs, and not just keep creating
random images.

Also, do not be afraid to hide what you’re thinking! Sketch every single idea you can come up
with that would show how you would want your project design to be. Do not just stick to
sketching one design – come up multiples, so that when the time comes, you will have a variety
of good choices to choose from.

Next, when choosing from the many designs we have sketched, we must think to ourselves:
Which design is the best? Which design fits most, based on my investigations (step 1)?  Never
forget to look back at the notes and ideas you brainstormed earlier during your investigation,
especially at the design specifications (characteristics).

Step 3: PLAN & CREATE (Creating the Solution)

Before beginning anything, it is important that we come up with a method on how we are going
to pull it off. Yes, we may have the sketch for the final design ready, but what about the other,
equally important preparations to be made? This then leads us to the first half of this step in
the design cycle, which is to PLAN. Here, we will be planning and preparing for the very creation
of our project.

In this step, we are required to make concrete and logical steps on how we are going to
complete our project. If we have already done this before, then now is the time for us to

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further concretize and add details to our steps. We must recheck our plan and ask ourselves:
Are these steps plausible in our current situation? Are they logical enough? Are there more
efficient ways to carry out these steps?

The other half of the third design cycle is probably the most important of them all: to CREATE.
Yet, it is also probably the hardest and most challenging step compared to the others. After
spending the first three steps for planning, it all boils down to this.

Moreover, in creating our project, we must never forget to use past techniques learned. For
example, if we know how to utilize different computer applications for product editing, then we
must not forget to use them. Examples of such applications include: Photoshop, After Effects,
Flash, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, Keynote, etc.

Last but not the least, it is also important for us to provide evidence for everything that we do
during the creation step. By providing evidence of our creation, we can prove to others that we
ourselves made our projects; that it is not plagiarized nor copied from others’ works. If done
correctly, by the end of this step, we are expected to come up with a product that corresponds
to our design brief and specification.

Step 4: Evaluation

The final step of the design cycle would be to EVALUATE. Here, we look back at our project and
the steps we undertook in order to make it. This is what we call reflection – after succeeding,
we look back at what we have done. We look at the past four steps of the design cycle, and we
evaluate ourselves. Have we done well? Have we done our tasks correctly? Did we meet our
expectations? Did our dreams come true?

Lastly, we must also let others evaluate our works, most preferably higher authority such as our
teachers or professors. By allowing others to rate us, we will be able to hear their own opinions
regarding what we have done, and thus, improve ourselves not only in our eyes, but also in the
eyes of others. Through this reflection and evaluation, we will be able to learn many things
about ourselves, and what to improve in us, while also keeping in mind some techniques or
lessons that we learned in the creation of our projects.

Answer these questions below by using the reading above OR by researching on the internet using your
computer.

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1. List and explain the 4 steps of the MYP Design Cycle

Step 1:

Short explanation:

Step 2:

Short explanation:

Step 3:

Short explanation:

Step 4:

Short explanation:

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2. What do I want to learn in Design?

3. What is my favorite food/music/movie/game/YouTuber? (You can answer one, or all)

4. What are my hobbies? (Can list more than one)

5. I want my Design teacher to be:

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