Course: MIS20090 Design Thinking
Duration, 110 minutes
The organisation of this material is subject to on-going revision.
Students will abide by the provisions of the "UCD Student Code". All deliverables, whether individual or group, must comply with UCD policies on "Academic Integrity" and "Plagiarism". Communication should be respectful, professional, and comply with the school protocols. The policy on late submission of coursework to conform with university guidelines.
Notice:
Slides and files are accessed from the module in UCD Brightspace https://brightspace.ucd.ie/ (login required).The organisation of this material is subject to on-going revision.
Students will abide by the provisions of the "UCD Student Code". All deliverables, whether individual or group, must comply with UCD policies on "Academic Integrity" and "Plagiarism". Communication should be respectful, professional, and comply with the school protocols. The policy on late submission of coursework to conform with university guidelines.
Module Description
Design Thinking for Digital Projects equips you to act as an effective problem finder, solver and designer of human-centred solutions. You will acquire practical experience in user facilitation, requirements gathering, and collaborative design idea generation for human-centred design initiatives.Our aim is to create practical learning experiences that prepare our students as active participants, contributing to the requirements, analysis and design stages of digital projects. The approaches introduced in this class offer a foundation for later development on career paths in product management, business analysis, and ICT projects.
You will be able to:
Please note that selected content will be added or adapted in real time as new information emerges, the research environment evolves, and the social-organisational context changes.
Mid-term Study Break
Learning Outcomes
We wanted to prepare you to be an active and productive member of a design team; for you...
- to have conducted original research into a social, industry or firm context and established the nature of a design need;
- to have familiarity with facilitation techniques for revealing insights in multi-disciplinary teams;
- To have knowledge and understanding of digital prototyping and mock-up tools.
- to be able to identify, capture, and create descriptive user requirements for digital design relevant to specific business contexts;
- to be able to formulate a design element and comment critically on its development, implementation and adoption;
- to be able to explain the strengths and weaknesses of the field study and design methods used to develop digital systems.
- to be open to a career pathway in product design research, business analysis, and as ICT project contributor.
- Identify, capture, and create descriptive user requirements for digital design relevant to specific business contexts;
- Formulate a design element and comment critically on its development, implementation and adoption;
- Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the field study and design methods used to develop digital systems.
- Continue career pathway in product design research, business analysis, and as ICT project contributor.
Indicative Module Content:
This module connects user-centred design principles, designing requirements and requirements design for digital systems. Practical facilitation skills are developed using Lego Serious Play (LSP). Classes employ contemporary idea generation and experimentation techniques using the IDEO Design Kit [IDEO.org, 2015]. The module gives you the opportunity to learn to use popular Wireframe and Mockup Tools for digital design. A project is organised along the lines of the ‘Sprint’ method [Knapp et al., 2016].
The project is focused on carrying out practical field studies of everyday challenges and problems people face in their encounters with technology. These could be digital or physical challenges. Challenges ranging from mobility access in the built environment through to digital access and usability for people with disabilities and diverse needs.
Assessment Strategy
Due dates as indicated in Brightspace. UCD policy on late submission applies.
- (25%) Homework assignments
- (65%) Term Paper (see guidelines below) + 1-page Personal Learning Reflection included as an appendix.
- (10%) Design Thinking Simulation 5% (in-class 6 week-long group experiment) and Term Paper research presentation video (4-minutes long) 5%
Syllabus (subject to revision)
(v1.1)
Session 1: Design Thinking and the Sprint Process
- Course overview.
- What is Design Thinking?
- Empathy Exercise. Wheelchair.
- Next session homework 1. A photo - a design "fail".
- Next session homework 2. Reflection/notes on a reading - 4 Common Ways Companies Alienate People with Disabilities (Noone, 2021)
Session 2: Discovery - The "Big Idea" in a sentence
- Design Thinking Simulation - Session 1 Discovery - The Game Combinator.
- Game or Gamification. The big idea in a sentence (gap, need, goal)
- The IDEO Shopping Cart Video
- Next session homework 3. Reflection/notes on a reading - Empathy on the edge
- Battarbee, K., Suri, J. F., and Howard, S. G. (2014). Empathy on the edge: scaling and sustaining a human-centered approach in the evolving practice of design.
Session 3: Interpretation - Find inspiration, the competition, the state-of-the-art.
- Design Thinking Simulation - Session 2 Interpretation – Find stories, data, meaning.
- Divide and conquer. Ask the people. Ask the robots. Discovery, research, facts and information.
- Writing like a researcher - template, citing, references.
- Next session homework 4. 3. Reflection/notes on a reading – Design Thinking: An Overview (Georgiev, 2012)
Session 4: Universal Design and Accessibility
- Design Thinking Simulation - Session 3 Ideation – Generate ideas, refine ideas.
- Let a thousand ideas bloom. Solution jigsaw.
- The IDEO Method Cards: 51 Ways to Inspire Design (IDEO, 2003).
- Next session homework 5. Conduct a cultural probe (1 photo + 1 paragraph note)
Session 5: Ideation - Look, see, observe like a designer
- Design Thinking Simulation - Session 4 – Experimentation – Maker time, prototype, try.
- Maker time: make a mock-up.
- The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design (IDEO.org, 2015).
- Sketching User Experiences (Buxton, 2007)
- Next session homework 6. Reflection/notes (250-500 words in plain text) on - The Little Book of Design Research Ethics (IDEO.org, 2015)
Session 6: Experimentation - Imagine the goal - Develop a design attitude
- Design Thinking Simulation - Session 5 Evolution – Living Lab, observe your users.
- Test time: feedback
- Structure of a Sprint (Jack Knapp et al., 2016).
- Design sketching and wireframing for mock-ups and prototyping (Balsamiq and other tools)
- Next session homework 7.
Session 7 Evolution - B- Explore possibilities
- Design Thinking Simulation - Pitch poster
- Make a pitch sheet (poster). Present your pitch and get the word out.
- Post photo or copy of the group Design Thinking Simulation poster.
- WCAG 2.0 Guidelines.
- Next session homework 8.
Mid-term Study Break
Session 8 C-Decisions
- The Universal Traveler (Koberg& Bagnall, 1991)
- Product Analysis - Design Briefs
- Next session homework 10.
Session 9 D-Build, make, tinker and learn
- Designing for Interaction (Safer, 2010)
- Next session homework 11.
Session 10 E- Prototype test, observe and evaluate
- Unpacking the Design Sprint
- Next session homework 12. Post an updated version of your CV with new skills.
Session 11 Writing workshop
- End of week post a link to the Term Paper research presentation video - 4-minute presentation
Session 12 Writing workshop
- End of week post your Term Paper (including a 1-page Personal Learning Reflection in the appendix).
