ITM11318 Design Methods (Autumn 2018)

The course is connected to the following study programs

This course is compulsory in Bachelor in Digital Media and Design.

Elective course for others.

Lecture Semester

3rd and 5th semester (Autumn).

The student's learning outcomes after completing the course

Knowledge:

On completion of the course, the student:

• is familiar with key theories and concepts in design thinking
• is familiar with different techniques used for analysis, idea generation, prototyping and evaluation

Skills:

On completion of the course, the student is capable of:

• creating innovative design concepts
• developing and evaluating prototypes
• linking his/her work to existing theories and concepts in design thinking

General competence:

On completion of the course, the student:

• has acquired competence in critical reading and reflection and gained experience of project work in groups

Content

The course is divided into five main topics:

• What is design thinking?
• Methods for idea generation
• Methods for prototyping
• Methods for evaluation
• Work in interdisciplinary groups

Forms of teaching and learning

Lectures, supervision, lab exercises, project work and essay writing.

If students from international partners attend courses, the lectures will be conducted in English.

Workload

Approx. 240 hours.

4 hours lectures per week, lab exercises and supervision

Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam

During the semester, each student shall carry out up to 5 assignments.

The assignments will involve the use of different design methods to better understand the users, define problems and design appropriate and user-friendly solutions to solve the problems.

For each assignments, the students must

• deliver a written report
• present the assignment in front of the rest of the class

It is mandatory participation during all presentations.

The coursework requirements must be approved before students may sit the exam.

Examination

Individual written exam and group project

A final grade is awarded on the basis of a two partial exams. Each partial exam must be passed in order to pass the whole course.

Partial exam 1 is an individual written exam based on the course curriculum that counts 40%. Duration 4 hours. No support materials permitted.

Partial exam 2 is a group project that counts 40%. Group grades are awarded for the project. This includes:

• a written project report
• presentation of the project for the rest of the class

An overall individual final grade is awarded for the course using grading scale A to F.

Examiners

The exam is assessed by the course instructor and an internal or external examiner.

Conditions for resit/rescheduled exams

In the case of resit or rescheduled examinations, each part of the examination may be retaken and the results will be combined into one grade. In the case of resit and rescheduled examinations, the content of the group project and the individual report must be agreed with the course instructor.

Course evaluation

This course is evaluated by a

• Mid-term evaluation (compulsory)

The responsible for the course compiles a report based on the feedback from the students and his/her own experience with the course. The report is discussed by the study quality committee of the faculty of Computer Sciences.

Literature

The reading list was last updated 15 December 2016.

Brown, T., 2009. Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. HarperBusiness, New York. (272 pages)

Cross, N., 2011. Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Bloomsbury Academic, New York. (192 pages)

Kolko, J., 2011. Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner's Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis. Oxford University Press, New York. (208 pages)

The Bootcamp Bootleg [WWW Document], 2016. . d.school. URL http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/the-bootcamp-bootleg/ (accessed 2.2.16). (47 pages)

(719 pages)