Overview

This unit introduces students to the practice of design innovation. Working on a project, students learn how to apply design thinking tools and methods throughout the different stages of the design-led innovation process. This unit develops skills and understanding of design research, human-centeredness, prototyping, teamwork and visual thinking.

Requisites

Teaching Periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Navigate the design innovation process, using a range of methods and tools
  • Use qualitative research methods to collect, synthesize and analyse data from human-centred research
  • Reframe a given problem through human-centred research
  • Define a design innovation vision and create concepts coherent with it
  • Verbally and visually communicate / articulate design visions and concepts, and their rationale
  • Apply design innovation principles

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Lecture
1.00 12 weeks 12
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Studio
3.00 12 weeks 36
Specified Learning Activities (Phasing out)
Various
6.00 13 week 78
Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out)
Independent Learning
4.00 6 weeks 24
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssignmentIndividual 40% 1,2,5 
Project PresentationGroup 30% 1,2,3,4 
Project PresentationGroup 30% 4,5,6 

Content

  • Design innovation processes.
  • Primary and secondary research on state-of-the-art developments in fields related to the context of a given problem.
  • Real-life human-centred research: ethics, data collection methods, analysis, and synthesis.
  • Re-definition of a given problem as a result of human-centred research and prototyping.
  • Defining, creating, testing and evaluating prototypes for empathy building, concept evolution, and discovery.
  • Introduction to visual thinking tools to articulate analysis and synthesis results, insights, ideas and concept proposals.

 

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.