← Design and Manufacture syllabus

ScotlandDesign and Manufacture

Design

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What does the Higher Design and Manufacture assignment require, and how is it marked?

Overview of the Higher Design and Manufacture coursework assignment: a candidate-led design, make and test task that applies the design process and knowledge of materials and manufacture to produce and evaluate a design proposal and outcome.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture overview of the coursework assignment, a candidate-led design, make and test task that applies the design process and knowledge of materials and manufacture to research, develop, make and evaluate a design proposal under SQA conditions.
10 min answer →

What competing factors must a designer balance to make a product that works, sells and can be made?

The design factors a product must satisfy: function and performance, aesthetics, ergonomics and anthropometrics, the market, economics and cost, ease of manufacture, durability and safety, and how they are balanced and prioritised.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on the design factors a product must satisfy, covering function and performance, aesthetics, ergonomics and anthropometrics, market, economics, ease of manufacture, durability and safety, and how a designer balances and prioritises them for a viable commercial product.
13 min answer →

How does a designer move from a brief to a viable product, and why is the process iterative rather than linear?

The design process and the iterative design, make and test cycle: the brief, research, specification, idea generation, development, prototyping, evaluation and the feedback loops that link them.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on the design process and the iterative design, make and test cycle, covering the brief, research, specification, idea generation, development, prototyping and evaluation, and why the stages feed back into each other rather than running in a straight line.
12 min answer →

How does a designer judge objectively whether an idea or product is good, rather than relying on opinion?

Evaluation techniques used through the design process: evaluating ideas and products against the specification, user trialling and testing, comparison and selection methods, and using the results to refine the design.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on evaluation techniques, covering how a designer judges ideas and products against the specification, uses user trialling and testing, compares and selects ideas objectively, and feeds the results back to refine the design.
11 min answer →

Which graphic and modelling techniques does a designer use to generate, develop and communicate ideas, and when is each one right?

Graphic techniques and modelling used through the design process: freehand sketching, pictorial and orthographic working drawings, CAD, and physical models and prototypes, and the role of each in generating, developing, testing and communicating a design.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on the graphic techniques and modelling used through the design process, covering freehand sketching, pictorial and orthographic working drawings, CAD, and physical models and prototypes, and when each is used to generate, develop, test and communicate a design.
12 min answer →