The aim of this module is to engage students in a hands-on exploration of the design thinking process to ask the question: how can technology make our lives better? The student will be guided to develop a creative design solution to a real life problem by interacting with a client who experiences this problem. Students will be encouraged to implement elements of Universal Design in their human focussed solutions. Students will present their solutions to their client at the end of the module and will receive feedback to help with future assignments.
Problem definition: Problem scoping and mapping techniques, tiny truths, the problem photo gallery
Stakeholder empathy: Empathetic interview techniques, stakeholder mapping, mood boards, empathy walls. Active empathy techniques, acting out the problem, a day in the life, a mile in my shoes, book of my life, photo album of my life. Leading to an empathy conference
Creativity techniques: Creativity techniques. Brainstorming, thinking in time and space (9 boxes), yes and..., TRIZ techniques for idea generation
Concept development and selection: Concept mapping and evaluation (dot voting), Pugh matrix
Design techniques: Universal Design techniques: what is universal design, 7 principles, the Universal Design approach. Design Sketching
Prototyping Techniques: Prototyping techniques such as: lego for rough prototyping, card construction techniques, foam construction, wearable sensor building techniques, interfacing circuits, coding and code validation. Maker studio management approaches: keep it tidy, keep it colourful, keep it fun
Design Analysis: Design analysis: 7 principles of Universal Design: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive in Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, Low Physical Effort, Size and Space for approach and use. Positive Feedback: techniques for giving feedback to users and designers that build confidence and empower people
Dissemination: Dissemination: the poster show, the positive crit, blog posts and story telling tools such as TWINE, podcasts, v-logs
