IB Design Technology: Design in context practice questions

Question 1

A cordless vacuum cleaner runs only when it detects an authorised filter unit, and the maker withdraws that filter from sale two years after launch although the motor, battery and body are unaffected. This design decision is best classified as:

Accepted Answer

Planned obsolescence — The cleaner is still fully capable of working, so its life is ended by a deliberate design and supply decision rather than by wear, which is planned obsolescence. Functional obsolescence follows genuine wear, and design for disassembly has the opposite intent because it extends useful life through repair and material recovery.

Question 2

A studio has developed a folding hinge that locks a laptop stand at any angle by a mechanism no existing product uses. The studio wants the legal right to stop competitors using that mechanism for the next ten years. Which form of protection should it apply for?

Accepted Answer

A patent — A patent is the only right that covers how something works, provided the invention is new, inventive and industrially applicable. A registered design would protect only the appearance of the stand, and copyright in the drawings stops copying of the drawings rather than of the mechanism.

Question 3

An electric kettle sold in the European market carries a CE marking. What does that marking tell a purchaser?

Accepted Answer

The manufacturer declares that the product meets the required safety rules — CE marking is a declaration of conformity made by the manufacturer against the legislation that applies to the product; it is neither a third-party quality mark nor a statement of origin. Independent certification is what a scheme such as a Kitemark provides.

Question 4

Late in a run of 40 000 hair dryers a supplier substitutes the specified thermal cut-out with an unapproved equivalent, and sample testing shows that a small proportion of units can overheat. What is the manufacturer's first responsibility on discovering the deviation?

Accepted Answer

Halt shipment and recall the affected batch — A known safety defect that can injure users outranks cost and schedule, so the batch is stopped and recalled. A warning in the manual, or requalifying the substitute for later lots, does nothing about the hazard in units that have already been released.

Question 5

A client asks a designer to switch to a cheaper polymer for a garden chair sold with a five-year guarantee, although that polymer embrittles after roughly two years of outdoor ultraviolet exposure. Which responsibility of the designer does the request conflict with most directly?

Accepted Answer

Ensuring the product stays safe for its stated service life — An embrittled chair can fail under a seated load while still inside the guarantee period, so the substitution creates a foreseeable injury risk during the promised life. Cost control and intellectual property are genuine duties, but neither displaces user safety.

Question 6

A drinks producer labels a bottle 'fully recyclable' although the full-length printed sleeve makes the bottle unsortable by the optical scanners used at the recycling plant. Which term describes this claim?

Accepted Answer

Greenwashing — The environmental claim is technically arguable but misleading in practice, which is exactly what greenwashing means. Downcycling and remanufacturing describe what physically happens to a material, not how a product is marketed.

Design in context practice questions.

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