Criterion A: Empathize
9 marksUnderstand the intended user and what existing products do well or badly.
IB Design Technology IA Grader
Grade your Design Technology IA before you submit. Upload your draft and get a mark for each criterion, comments tied to your sentences, and a list of what to fix first.
5 free gradings a month. No card. Private to you.
- of marks within one grade of the IB's final mark
- 92%
- marking score. ChatGPT 65, Claude 61, Gemini 57
- 74/100
- real IAs and TOK essays tested against the mark the IB gave
- 1,317
- Marks
- 33, from five criteria
- Task
- Redesign an existing product for a user
- Length
- About 35 A4 pages, 3,500 words suggested
- First assessed
- 2027, same task at SL and HL
See the mark, and the sentences behind it
Check the quality of your method, analysis, evaluation, communication and subject-specific reasoning. Find the weakest parts of the draft and see what to change first.
What Marksy checks for each Design Technology IA criterion
You get a mark for each IB assessment criterion below. The points under each one are what Marksy looks for in your draft. See the mark bands
Criterion B: Defining the project
6 marksUse research to define the redesign problem and product requirements.
Criterion C: Ideation and modelling
6 marksDevelop and compare three feasible redesign ideas through testing and user feedback.
Criterion D: Designing a solution
6 marksRefine a model through testing and communicate the final design for manufacture.
Criterion E: Presenting a solution
6 marksShow the redesign and explain how it improves on the original product.
Where Design Technology IAs usually lose marks
Marksy flags these in your draft and links each one to the sentences it is about.
- A persona with no evidenceA name and an age isn't a persona. Show photos of your user having trouble with the current product, and explain their context, needs and what motivates them.Criterion A
- Products listed, not testedPick four to six existing products and test them. Annotate photos of each test with what works and what fails in their key features.Criterion A
- Specifications not tied to researchEach requirement should come from something you found about your user or the existing products. Split them into essential and desirable, and say where each one came from.Criterion B
- Fewer than three ideas, or none testedCriterion C wants three feasible redesign ideas. Test each one against your specification, get feedback from your user, and compare the three.Criterion C
- A model that never changesShow several rounds of testing with your user and what you changed after each. One finished model with no history can't show refinement.Criterion D
- No comparison with the originalGo back to the problems you found at the start. Show which ones your redesign fixes and how it does a better job than the product you began with.Criterion E
Before you upload
- Keep each annotation to 10 words or fewer. Longer ones count toward your word count.
- Put your sources in footnotes on the page. You don't need a separate reference list.
- Include formal drawings (assembled, exploded and orthographic) with dimensions, so a manufacturer could make it.
- Give every image a short annotation. Marksy reads the text in your PDF, not the pictures.
Your draft stays at the centre
Marksy reads the work you upload, points each comment back to your writing, and puts the most important changes first.
How does each redesign choice improve the product for its intended user?Read Design Technology IA Planning Guide
- 1
Upload your draft
A PDF of your Design Technology IA, finished or not. Every comment stays connected to your own writing.
- 2
Read the comments
Highlights show which passage each comment is about.
- 3
Fix the important parts first
Work down a short list instead of making scattered edits.
- 4
Keep the final say
Accept, adapt or ignore each suggestion. You stay the author.
What students wrote afterwards
From Trustpilot, as written.
marksyib has saved my ib diploma. thanks to it, my IA's were perfect and got the points i needed. really recommended.
Marksy ib allowed me to be able to finish my IAs much before allowing me to be able to relax better. 100% recommended
Your work stays your work
Marksy reads the draft you upload and comments on it. It doesn't rewrite your assessment, and your files are never used to train AI.
Read the safety answers- Private to youOnly you can see your work unless you choose to share it.
- Never used for trainingYour coursework is not added to any AI training data.
- Feedback, not ghostwritingUse the report to improve your own analysis and decisions.
- Delete it whenever you wantYou control the files stored in your account.
Questions before you upload
Still planning? The coursework guide covers the criteria and what to ask yourself while you write. Open the guide
Yes. Marksy grades against the redesign task first assessed in 2027: five criteria from Empathize to Presenting a solution, 33 marks in total. It doesn't use the older design project criteria.
No. It reads the text in your PDF: your annotations, captions and written sections. It can tell you whether your notes explain the evidence each criterion asks for, but it can't judge a drawing or test your model.
The IB suggests four to six. For each one, show photos of you testing it, with notes on what works and what doesn't.
The IB gives 3,500 words as a guide, split across the five criteria, not as a target. Most of your report should be visual. Remember that annotations over 10 words count as words.
We tested Marksy on 1,317 real IAs and TOK essays with the mark the IB gave them. 92% of Marksy's marks landed within one grade. On a set with as many weak as strong essays, it scored 74/100 on our marking score, against 65 for ChatGPT, 61 for Claude and 57 for Gemini. Every number, and how we tested, is on the grading accuracy page.
Yes. Marksy checks your Design Technology IA against the IB assessment criteria for it and returns marks, comments and fixes instead of generic essay advice.
Yes. Early drafts are useful because the report can show a weak criterion before you spend hours polishing the wrong section. You can revise and grade another version later.
A free account includes 5 gradings a month. You don't need a card.
No. Marksy reads your existing work, explains each comment, and suggests what to revise. The writing and the final decisions stay yours.
Your upload is private to your account, is not used to train AI models, and can be deleted whenever you want.
Stop guessing what to fix in your Design Technology IA
Upload the version you have now and find the parts holding it back.