The requirements for product design and development Product development and improvement — AQA A-Level Design and Technology: Product Design
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The requirements for product design and development Product development and improvement explained
This statement is a route instruction rather than an assessed answer target.
Read the full explanation
It tells you that the requirements listed in section 3.1.8 are to be learned by studying and critically analysing existing products, not by memorising a list in isolation. Your task is to select real products, examine how each one meets or fails particular requirements, and build an understanding you can apply to your own design work. Critical analysis means judging a product against criteria such as function, user needs, cost, sustainability and manufacture, then explaining the judgement with evidence from the product. Use the products you study as worked examples that make each requirement concrete, and keep notes linking each product to the requirement it illustrates.
Your focus
- Select existing products that illustrate the requirements in section 3.1.8.
- Critically analyse a product against a named requirement and justify the judgement.
- Use analysed products as evidence when applying requirements to design decisions.
The requirements for product design and development Product development and improvement exam tips
Examiner Tips
- 💡Keep a short evidence log for each product you study, noting which requirement it illustrates and how.
- 💡When analysing, state the requirement, give evidence from the product, then judge how well it is met.
- 💡Use your analysed products as examples when you later apply requirements to your own design decisions.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the requirements as a list to memorise; correction: learn each requirement through a real product you have analysed, so you can explain it with evidence.
- Describing a product's features without judging them; correction: critical analysis means assessing how well the product meets a requirement and justifying that view.
- Studying products that do not connect to the listed requirements; correction: deliberately choose products that let you examine a specific requirement in depth.