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Lesson 9 of 14
  • Year 10

Iteration and refinement

I can refine my design based on feedback to improve inclusivity and usability.

Lesson 9 of 14
New
New
  • Year 10

Iteration and refinement

I can refine my design based on feedback to improve inclusivity and usability.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Focused feedback informs meaningful improvements to a design.
  2. Iteration leads to more inclusive outcomes.

Keywords

  • Iteration - the repeated process of testing, changing, and improving a design

  • Design decisions - a deliberate choice to meet a requirement or solve a problem

  • Refinement - targeted improvements that make a design more effective

  • Design requirements - something which is needed or wanted to make a product successful

  • Usability - how easy and efficient a product is to use

Common misconception

Refinement is just “making it look nicer.”

Refinement is purposeful change based on evidence; it improves inclusivity, usability, and overall function, not just appearance.


To help you plan your year 10 design and technology lesson on: Iteration and refinement, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Reinforce that iteration means: test, change, and test again. Small refinements compound into major improvements.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What does iteration mean in design?

creating one final version only
Correct answer: the repeated process of testing, changing, and improving a design
making designs look more colourful
adding extra decoration at the end

Q2.
Focused __________ makes a design more effective and inclusive.

sketching
Correct answer: refinement
decoration
brainstorming

Q3.
Match each keyword to its meaning.

Correct Answer:iteration,the repeated process of testing, changing, and improving a design

the repeated process of testing, changing, and improving a design

Correct Answer:refinement,targeted improvements that make a design more effective

targeted improvements that make a design more effective

Correct Answer:usability,how easy and efficient a product is to use

how easy and efficient a product is to use

Correct Answer:design decision,a deliberate choice to meet a requirement or solve a problem

a deliberate choice to meet a requirement or solve a problem

Q4.
Why is iteration important for inclusive design?

Correct answer: It helps meet user needs through ongoing improvements.
It allows designers to skip testing.
It removes the need for feedback.
It focuses only on appearance.

Q5.
Improving a design based on focused feedback is called ...

Correct Answer: refinement, refining

Q6.
Why should designers record their design decisions during iteration?

Correct answer: to show how feedback informed each improvement
to make the design more colourful
to skip evaluation
to make sketching easier

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Why do designers use iteration?

Correct answer: to test, change and improve a design based on feedback
to avoid making any changes
to make a design look more decorative
to finalise a design without testing

Q2.
When a designer improves a product based on user or stakeholder feedback, this is called ...

Correct Answer: refinement, refining

Q3.
Match each design activity to its purpose.

Correct Answer:iteration,repeating testing and development to improve a design

repeating testing and development to improve a design

Correct Answer:feedback,making improvements based on user information

making improvements based on user information

Correct Answer:refinement,using feedback to make purposeful changes

using feedback to make purposeful changes

Correct Answer:usability testing,checking how easy and efficient a product is to use

checking how easy and efficient a product is to use

Q4.
Improving a design based only on looks is not true refinement. True refinement focuses on improving ...

colour
Correct answer: usability and function
decoration
materials

Q5.
Why is it not true that refinement is just “making it look nicer”?

Correct answer: because refinement improves inclusivity, usability, and function
because only engineers refine designs
because designers never test their ideas
because style is more important than usability

Q6.
What should designers do after analysing feedback?

Correct answer: make targeted refinements to improve inclusivity and usability
ignore feedback if the design looks good
start a new project immediately
stop testing