Can I include improvements in the evaluation section?

Yes, and in IB Design Technology it’s often expected, but only if the improvements are anchored to evidence. The improvement should directly respond to a limitation you identified from testing or user feedback. If you propose a dramatic redesign that you never tested, it usually reads like fantasy rather than reflection. Strong improvements are small enough to be plausible and specific enough to be measurable. Think: changing a material thickness, altering a handle angle, switching a joining method, refining tolerances, or adjusting a UI layout. Your goal is to show that your thinking continues beyond the prototype, without pretending you built version ten.

Is it bad if my evaluation sounds negative?

A critical tone is not a problem in IB Design Technology; pretending everything is perfect is. Examiners are not grading your pride in the outcome, they’re grading your ability to judge it. A balanced evaluation shows you understand trade-offs: cost vs performance, ergonomics vs compactness, sustainability vs durability, and so on. If something failed a requirement, naming the failure clearly can actually raise the credibility of everything else you write. The key is to keep criticism evidence-based, not emotional. Then follow it with explanation and a realistic improvement path.

Does evaluation affect marks beyond the evaluation criterion?

In practice, yes, because IB Design Technology marking is interconnected. Your evaluation is where you prove your requirements were testable, your testing was meaningful, and your iteration decisions were justified. If evaluation is weak, it can make earlier sections look superficial because nothing is validated. If evaluation is strong, it retroactively strengthens your analysis, development, and finalisation because the whole design cycle becomes coherent. Moderation also rewards clarity: the easier it is to trace decisions and results, the easier it is to justify high marks. That’s why students often see the biggest score jump by improving evaluation writing rather than adding more pages.