IB Design Technology HL · 2016 to 2025 (outgoing guide)
9.3 Beyond usability
10 past paper questions from 8 papers across 7 exam sessions. See what repeats, then practise the same skills with AI marking.
HL archive · 2016 to 2025
9.3 Beyond usability
Latest exam session: May 2025
- questions
- 10
- questions
- papers
- 8
- papers
- exam sessions
- 7
- exam sessions
- micro-topics
- 2
Micro-topics in 9.3 Beyond usability
In syllabus order. The ring is the share of papers each appears in.
9.3.1
7 questions · in 19% of papersAppears in 7 of the 36 Design Technology HL papers analysed (19%), at least once each.
Risinglast May 25 P1 TZ2
9.3.2
3 questions · in 8% of papersAppears in 3 of the 36 Design Technology HL papers analysed (8%), at least once each.
Occasionallast Nov 24 P1
Exam pattern
How often each micro-topic has been examined, year by year. Each label is explained under the grid.
Does it repeat?
Questions per year for each micro-topic.
fewermore
| Micro-topic | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1The four pleasures, 2016: 1 question | 1The four pleasures, 2017: 1 question | 1The four pleasures, 2018: 1 question | 1The four pleasures, 2019: 1 question | ·The four pleasures, 2020: 0 questions | ·The four pleasures, 2021: 0 questions | ·The four pleasures, 2022: 0 questions | ·The four pleasures, 2023: 0 questions | 1The four pleasures, 2024: 1 question | 2The four pleasures, 2025: 2 questions | |
| ·The ACT model, 2016: 0 questions | 1The ACT model, 2017: 1 question | ·The ACT model, 2018: 0 questions | 1The ACT model, 2019: 1 question | ·The ACT model, 2020: 0 questions | ·The ACT model, 2021: 0 questions | ·The ACT model, 2022: 0 questions | ·The ACT model, 2023: 0 questions | 1The ACT model, 2024: 1 question | ·The ACT model, 2025: 0 questions |
- Risingappearing more often in the last two years than before
- Occasionalin about one paper in ten
Past paper generator
Generate Design Technology HL past paper questions
Choose what to revise and build a set in one click. Every question stays whole, so multi-part questions come as they appeared in the exam.
- 1Pick any unit, topic or micro-topic
- 2Generate whole exam questions from the archive
- 3Practise the same skills with AI marking
Questions on 9.3 Beyond usability, by exam session
Which papers asked about 9.3 Beyond usability, and which question numbers. Open a paper to see them highlighted.
May 2025
2 questions across 2 papers
November 2024
1 question across 1 paper
May 2024
1 question across 1 paper
May 2019
2 questions across 1 paper
May 2018
1 question across 1 paper
November 2017
2 questions across 1 paper
November 2016
1 question across 1 paper
Every 9.3 Beyond usability question, unlocked
Generate all 10 questions in this topic at once, practise every one with AI marking, and see how each mark is awarded.
- Every past-paper question in any unit, topic or micro-topic
- Generate sets of 20 or all questions, as often as you like
- Unlimited practice with AI marking and worked answers
- See how every mark is awarded for each question
- Predicted papers and crash courses built from the same data
Used by IB students preparing for Nov 2026, May 2027 and May 2028
From €6/mo. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers about this page.
Which Design Technology HL exam sessions are covered for 9.3 Beyond usability?
18 exam sessions from 2016 to 2025, the latest May 2025. Every Paper 1 in every timezone is read and classified in full, which gives 8 papers in this archive.
Which 9.3 Beyond usability topic comes up most?
The four pleasures (9.3.1): in 19% of papers, last seen May 25 P1 TZ2. Usually "other", worth about 1 marks in a paper that includes it.
Can I see the original question and mark scheme?
No. The wording belongs to the IB. You get the citation, the marks, the command term and the skill tested, plus our own matched practice questions with worked answers and AI marking.
What do "banker", "due" and "rising" mean?
Banker: examined in at least one sitting in four and still appearing. Due: regular before, but absent for the last two exam sessions. Rising: clearly more common in the last two years. Our classification of real papers, not an IB statistic.
What is free and what needs Pro?
Reading this page and the exam pattern is free. A free account generates three sets of ten questions and launches one practice set. Pro opens every question in any scope, sets of twenty or all, and unlimited practice.
Keep going
More Design Technology HL exam preparation
Every question, by paper
What each Design Technology HL paper tests across all its sittings: the marks by unit and the micro-topics it keeps coming back to.
Open the paper analysis
All IB past papers
Every subject we have classified by topic, with the same exam-pattern analysis.
Browse subjects