A range of different ideas, each annotated
The first job after the brief is a range of genuinely different solutions, not one idea drawn three ways. Use quick techniques so you aren't stuck on the first: brainstorming, mind maps, thumbnail sketches, mood boards, morphological analysis (list parts, mix options). Record each as an annotated sketch: a drawing PLUS notes adding material, size and how it works.
Models and mock-ups test feasibility
Turn ideas into 3D with models and mock-ups. A model is a 3D representation, to scale, checking form and proportion. A mock-up is a quick, full-size version of part of a product, testing one thing — size, reach, fit. Both use fast, cheap media: card, foam, Styrofoam or CAD. This tests feasibility while the idea is cheap to change, and reveals the resources needed: materials, tools, time, cost.
Continuous appraisal is iterative
Designing is iterative: ideas are continually appraised as they develop, not picked once. Appraisal means judging each idea against the specification, keeping, changing or dropping features. Crucially this is evaluation, not description: weigh positive AND negative features and give a reason, don't restate the idea. A weakness loops you back to combine the best, and each idea gets its own judgement.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Sketches AND notes means both
Where a task asks for sketches AND notes, sketches alone cannot reach full marks — a set of marks is reserved for the notes. The notes must add information the drawing cannot show: the specific material, key dimensions, how a part works — not label the obvious ("this is the lid") or restate the brief. Treat annotation as compulsory information, not decoration.
s23 P11 Q1b
Too few or near-identical ideas
Examiners repeatedly see too few ideas, or the required number nearly identical — the same solution with cosmetic changes. That is not a range and caps the marks, since the task tests genuinely different approaches. Vary form, mechanism or material, not just decoration, and produce the full number asked.
s23 P11 Q3c; P12 Q1c; P13 Q3c
Describe vs evaluate
The appraisal error is describing proposals instead of evaluating. Describe = WHAT an idea is; evaluate = weighing positive AND negative features against the spec. "It has a handle and a lid" scores less than "the wide base is stable but the tall shape wastes material". Tie each judgement to a spec point.
s23 P11-13 Qd
Models: not full-size or final materials
A wrong belief: that a model must be full-size and built from the final materials. Modelling is the opposite — done quickly and cheaply in easily-worked media (card, foam, Styrofoam, or CAD), often to a scale, so an idea can be tested and changed before any expensive material is cut. A card mock-up proves a phone-stand angle before acrylic is wasted.
Perfecting one idea, not a range
A common misjudgement is spending all the time perfecting a single polished idea. These parts test breadth — a range of different rough ideas produced quickly, so the best features of several can be compared and combined. Full detail belongs later, in development, after appraisal has chosen a direction. Go wide first, then narrow down.
Ideas must meet the WHOLE brief
An idea that satisfies only part of the brief is capped, however well drawn. Examiners report ideas that met one requirement but missed others — a container that became an enclosed game, or a rack for many bikes when one upright bike was required. Check each idea against every stated requirement, not just the one that inspired it.
s23 P12 Q3c; P13 Q3c
Misreading a key term in the brief
Candidates design the wrong product because they misread one key word. Reported: misreading "terrain" or "dispensing" led to ideas answering a different problem, scoring nothing. Read the scenario twice and underline the key nouns and verbs — what must it do, for whom, where? A great solution to the wrong problem earns nothing.
s23 P11 Q1b, Q2b
Annotate every idea with real information
Make each sketch carry credit-worthy information: name a specific material (mild steel, acrylic, MDF — not "metal"), give key dimensions, and say how it works. The notes add what the drawing cannot show.
Produce the full number, genuinely varied
Give the exact number of ideas asked for, and make them differ where it counts — vary the form, mechanism or material, not just colour or trim. Use two or three different techniques so you are not circling one solution, then check each against the specification.
Appraise each idea with a reason
Structure each appraisal as a positive, a negative and a reason tied to a spec point, then a decision. Give each idea its own judgement, not one line copied across all three.
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