Section C: Generating & Developing Ideas
GCSE — 2.2 NEA Guide (Core & In-depth Skills)
Overview
30 marks — AO2 (Assessment Objective 2: Design, make, evaluate and communicate)
This is the largest section and the heart of your NEA. You must show an iterative design process — generating ideas, testing and evaluating them, and refining towards a final detailed proposal. Aim for 8–10 pages.
Where it goes: strategy, initial ideas, models and development go in your informal sketchbook. The final detailed proposal (pictorial drawing, working drawings and manufacturing specification) goes in your formal presentation folio.
Think → model → test → reflect. This section is not a straight line. You will go round this loop many times, and every model and test should lead to a decision.
What to include — page by page
Page numbers are a suggested order. WJEC sets no fixed format — see sketchbook and folio.
Page 7: Design strategy
Start this section with a short explanation of how you are going to design. In this NEA you will use two main strategies, working side by side:
- Sketching multiple designs — quick, freehand sketches of lots of different ideas so you explore the problem widely before settling on anything
- Cardboard modelling — building quick, rough models from card to test size, shape, proportion and how parts fit or move
Explain briefly why these strategies suit your project. For example, card models let you check ergonomics and scale against your user in a way a sketch cannot, and sketching lots of ideas stops you getting stuck on the first one (design fixation).
The specification also names these design strategies. Use the correct names when you explain your approach:
- Collaboration — working with others through four stages: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver.
- User-centred design — keeping the user at the centre throughout: Contexts, Requirements, Design solutions, Evaluate, Iteration.
- Systems thinking — seeing the product as a system of parts (inputs, processes, outputs) and thinking about how changing one part affects the others.
Using one or more of these, as well as sketching and modelling, helps you avoid design fixation.
Recording your models:
- Photograph every cardboard model — take clear shots from several angles, with and without a user handling it where relevant
- Add the photos to your NEA folio or sketchbook alongside the sketches they relate to
- Annotate the photos — what works, what doesn’t, what you will change
- You can sketch over the photos (print them out, or use a tablet) to show modifications and next ideas directly on the model
Tip: Cardboard models are meant to be quick and rough. A model that took ten minutes and taught you something is worth more than a neat one that took a lesson. The model itself is not assessed — the photos and your comments about them are.
Pages 8–10: Initial ideas
Generate a broad, diverse range of initial ideas — aim for at least 6–8 different concepts.
- Ideas can come from any starting point: your research, existing products, nature, a material, a mechanism
- Use your specification to guide ideas. Check each one against your critical factors
- Engage with users. Show them early sketches or card models and record what they say
- Many ideas will be rejected, and that’s expected. Say why each one is rejected; this is evidence of decision making
For each idea:
- Sketch it in 2D and/or 3D (freehand annotated sketches are expected here)
- Add annotations explaining: materials, how it works, dimensions, key features
- Consider and comment on social, moral and economic factors where relevant
- Show variety — different forms, materials, mechanisms or construction methods
Avoid design fixation: Do not draw slight variations of the same idea. Show genuinely different approaches.
Use a range of techniques:
- Freehand annotated sketches
- Exploded diagrams
- System or schematic diagrams (for products with mechanisms or electronics)
- Photos of quick cardboard models, annotated or sketched over
- Notes and written commentary
At the end of this section, compare your initial ideas against your specification and select one (or elements of several) to develop further. Justify your choice.
Pages 11–12: Development
Take your chosen idea and develop it through at least two or three iterations.
Each iteration should:
- Show a refined version of the previous design
- Explain what changed and why (based on testing, user feedback, or specification check)
- Include modelling evidence — photos of cardboard models (or foam / 3D printed test pieces), annotated or sketched over to show changes
- Include testing: test against your specification, and do functional or performance testing (does the mechanism work, does it take the load, does it fit the user’s hand?)
- Show user or peer feedback and how you responded to it
Testing leads the way. Every change in your development should be explained by a test result, user feedback or a specification check, not just “I thought it looked better”.
Low fidelity to high fidelity modelling
Your models should become more detailed and refined as your design develops:
| Low fidelity (early, quick, rough) | High fidelity (later, refined, detailed) |
|---|---|
| Quick generation sketches | Detailed sketches and rendered drawings |
| Cardboard models and simple mock-ups (joining, combining) | Block models or foam models |
| Empathy modelling: simulating the user’s experience (e.g. gloves to simulate reduced grip) and recording it | CAD models and simulations |
| 3D printing / rapid prototyping of parts |
Keep everything. Keep your test pieces and models, or photograph them. Analyse what each one showed you and record the commentary in your sketchbook. Test pieces are also practical evidence your teacher can show the moderator.
The iterative process: Design → Make a quick model → Test → Get feedback → Refine → Repeat.
Development pages should show the design getting progressively better and more resolved, not just different.
Page 13: Social, moral and economic considerations
Dedicate a section to showing you have considered the wider impact of your design.
- Social — who will use this product? Are there any groups who might be excluded or affected?
- Moral — are any materials or manufacturing processes ethically questionable? (e.g. supply chains, worker conditions)
- Economic — what is the likely retail cost? What scale of production would be needed? Is it affordable for your target user?
- Environmental — what is the ecological footprint of your materials and processes? Have you considered the Six Rs?
Link these considerations to changes you have made (or would make) to your design.
Pages 14–16: Final detailed proposal
Your final proposal must give enough information for someone else to make your product. Include:
- Pictorial drawing — a detailed, high-quality 3D drawing of the final prototype showing all appropriate views. It can be hand drawn or CAD
- Working drawings — orthographic (front, side, top) with all dimensions clearly labelled
- Exploded diagram or assembly diagram showing how parts fit together
- Materials list — specify exact materials, sizes/thicknesses, and quantities
- Finishes and surface treatments — specify what finish will be applied, where and why
- Manufacturing method — explain how each part will be made
- Tools and equipment — what will be used for each part
- Specialist processes and materials — e.g. vacuum forming, laser cutting, line bending, smart or modern materials
- CNC / CAD-CAM details — file names, machine settings (e.g. laser power and speed, 3D print layer height and infill)
- Justification — explain how your final proposal meets every point on your specification
The third-party test: Could someone else, such as a manufacturer, make your prototype from the information you have given? If not, add more detail.
Tip: Your final proposal should address all points in your specification. If any are not fully met, explain what further development would be needed.
Marking criteria
Your teacher picks the band that best fits your work. A mark at the top of a band needs all of its descriptors met; missing evidence means a lower mark within the band. See how the marks are awarded.
| Band | Marks | What your work needs to show |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 24–30 | Range of design strategies applied; iterative process used; broad, complex and diverse initial ideas; social/moral/economic factors considered and applied; clear testing and refinement; comprehensive final proposal with materials, dimensions, finishes and processes; sophisticated communication |
| 3 | 16–23 | Range of strategies and iterative process; broad initial ideas; factors considered; effective testing and refinement; proposal with relevant detail addressing main spec points; good communication |
| 2 | 8–15 | Some strategies; iterative process applied; range of basic ideas; some factors identified; some testing; proposal with some detail; satisfactory communication |
| 1 | 1–7 | Limited undeveloped ideas; factors noted but not applied; little testing; superficial proposal; limited communication |
Checklist for Band 4
- Design strategy explained — sketching multiple designs and cardboard modelling
- Named design strategies (collaboration, user-centred design, systems thinking) explained and used
- At least 6–8 genuinely different initial ideas, all annotated
- Ideas include 2D and 3D sketches, exploded or schematic diagrams
- Reasons given for rejecting ideas, and users involved in choosing
- Social, moral and economic factors identified and applied to design decisions
- At least 2–3 iterations of the chosen design, with evidence of testing and feedback
- Cardboard models photographed, added to the folio or sketchbook and annotated
- Modelling moves from low fidelity (card, sketches) to high fidelity (CAD, 3D print, foam)
- Development changes explained by testing against the specification or functional tests
- Final proposal includes a high-quality pictorial drawing (hand or CAD)
- Final proposal includes working drawings with dimensions
- Materials, finishes, tools, specialist processes and CAD/CAM settings all specified
- Passes the third-party test: someone else could make it from your proposal
- Final proposal checked against all specification points