DGN4500 · Design thinking approaches

Overview

This unit will introduce you to the key skills and practices associated with Design Thinking, and offer opportunities to explore how basic creativity techniques can be applied in different contexts. It has been developed to support non-cognate students in Masters courses by introducing Design Thinking and its use across a wide range of problems and situations. These skills and strategies include various conceptual and communication approaches, ways to investigate and reconsider the contexts in which we live and work, and opportunities for innovation. Design Thinking combines familiar methods from the sciences and humanities - such as analysis and synthesis - but applies them in ways that are specific to a design approach. It encourages more flexible thinking and fosters creative engagement with the complex challenges of contemporary life.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

100% in-semester assessment

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Describe the core principles, methods, and mindsets of Design Thinking, and explain their relevance across disciplines and contexts;
2. Apply Design Thinking strategies such as problem framing, ideation, prototyping and iteration to explore creative responses to complex, ill-defined problems;
3. Analyse real-world project challenges using appropriate investigative approaches, including the integration of conceptual, social and technological considerations;
4. Collaborate with peers to generate, test and refine design proposals that are responsive to cultural, social and ethical needs of diverse users and stakeholders.;
5. Reflect on the role of Design Thinking in promoting sustainable, ethical and socially responsible innovation in both personal and professional contexts;
6. Demonstrate strategies for independently evaluating and adapting Design Thinking practices for future professional learning and interdisciplinary application.

Workload

12 hours per week including an average of 3 contact hours (in person or online) plus 9 hours of independent study, or equivalent.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.