Summarising the development of a digital outcome

Practice

Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.

Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.

Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.

Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.

What actually comes up

A Common Assessment Task about YOUR OWN outcome, so there is no fixed scenario to memorise. What matters is the TASK TEMPLATE — and it changed noticeably between the two cached years. Only 2022 and 2025 exam-task PDFs are published (2023/2024 assessment schedules exist but not the task documents); the underlying Achieved/Merit/Excellence criteria and cut scores (0–2 / 3–4 / 5–6 / 7–8) are IDENTICAL across all four years — only the specific questions asked have changed.

Across 3 years

The pattern — what to prepare

The 2025 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Part (a) — Describe the outcome

Three images required: the outcome, a digital component in its authoring software, and the development process.

• a(i) Describe the digital outcome you developed — its purpose, key features, and the target audience. Achieved
• a(ii) Explain the decisions you made during development relating to testing and trialling with particular people or groups, and any subject matter experts you worked with. Explain why they were relevant. Merit

Part (b) — Two requirements, each with an implication

Continues writing about the same outcome described in part (a) — no new resource.

• b(i) Identify a requirement that relates to aesthetics, functionality, or usability. Achieved
• b(ii) Discuss how your digital outcome addressed that requirement, and explain in detail what you needed to consider while developing to meet the implication of aesthetics, functionality, or usability. Merit
• b(iii) Identify a requirement that relates to cultural, ethical, sustainability, or future-proofing issues. Achieved
• b(iv) Explain how you balanced that requirement with the consideration of cultural, ethical, sustainability, or future-proofing implications. Discuss the trade-offs you had to make, and how you decided what was most important. Excellence

Part (c) — Reflection

May refer to decisions, requirements and challenges not discussed in earlier parts.

• c(i) Reflect on a challenge you faced meeting one of your requirements. Explain how you addressed it and evaluate the effectiveness of your approach. Merit
• c(ii) Reflect on a decision you made that went against advice you received (from feedback or online information). Discuss how your outcome would differ if you had followed that advice, and whether it would have had a positive or negative impact on the end user. Excellence

The 2022 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Part (a) — Your outcome, software, requirements and implications

Two images used here: the outcome itself, and a digital component in its authoring software.

• a(ii) Explain the purpose of your digital outcome. Achieved
• a(iii) Describe what your digital outcome looks like and how it works. Achieved
• a(v) What software did you use to create the digital components of your outcome? How suitable was this software? You may include more than one software. Merit
• a(vi) What were the TWO most important requirements of your digital outcome? Explain what they were, why they were important, how you implemented them, and give specific examples linking to the digital components. Merit
• a(vii) What were TWO relevant implications you chose from legal, future-proofing, or end-user considerations? Explain why each could impact your outcome, and what you included to address it. Excellence

Part (b) — Development process

Third image used here: the planning/development process.

• b(ii) Briefly explain each stage of your development process. Achieved
• b(iii) Explain TWO decisions made during development (chosen from: which experts to work with, project management, the design process, testing and trialling, or specific tools/techniques used) and judge how well each was carried out, and how it affected your outcome. Merit
• b(iv) Based on what you learnt through those decisions, explain and justify what changes you would make to your development process, and how these changes could further improve the quality of your outcome. Excellence

The 2021 paper ↗ Marking schedule ↗

Assessment task — a digital outcome you developed in the past 12 months

Up to THREE images may be used: the outcome itself, the planning process, and the digital components. Short quotes from the outcome are allowed.

• a i Briefly describe your digital outcome and its intended purpose or function. Achieved
• a ii What steps did you follow, or milestones did you meet, in developing the outcome? In what ways did having them help you? Achieved
• a iii What were the most important resources you used — people, tools, software, media, planning tools — and why were they so important? Merit
• b i Who were the end-users? What special requirements did they have, and how did those requirements influence your decision-making during development? Merit
• b ii Explain how you were influenced by TWO of aesthetics, usability and functionality during development, and the effect each had on your outcome. Merit
• c i In what ways was the development process successful? You might consider whether the end-users were satisfied, and what you learned along the way. Merit
• c ii In what ways could the digital outcome have been improved, and what would you have had to do differently during development to make that improvement? Excellence

Three task documents exist and all three are transcribed above: 2021, 2022 and 2025. The 2023 and 2024 assessment SCHEDULES are published and confirm the same criteria and cut scores, but NZQA never published the task-question documents for those two years, so their exact wording cannot be transcribed.

Past exams & resources

⏱ Timed opens the paper and starts a countdown matching the exam length. Official NZQA PDFs. If a link 404s, that year’s paper may sit under a slightly different code: browse the NZQA subject page.