DI207-15 Social Design
Introductory description
This module fosters student's development in becoming designerly agents for change through engagement with their local and regional communities. Social Design understands design as an ethically driven philosophy seeking to make improvements to the lived experiences of people, communities, and the environment. It is underpinned by the principles of co-design/co-creation and working in partnership to identify, investigate and resolve design problems. Students will learn a range of approaches to participatory design, social action and entrepreneurship through investigating philosophies, methodologies, and case studies. Through this they will develop a toolkit of techniques and their appropriateness to specific situations. Key to this is being able to understand a social context as a complex interaction of people, artefacts, systems, and economies.
Module aims
The aims of this module are to give students the opportunity to explore and test methods, approaches and frameworks relating to design and systems thinking within a interdisciplinary context. This will shape the student's emerging specialist design practice and help them build their own designerly methodologies. Throughout this module students will be part of an interdisciplinary team, where they will be sharing, collaborating, and developing their existing and newly developed approaches to researching, defining, and solving complex life-centred design problems. Social Design aims to encourage students to explore and research community life, impact and value through co-design. This module aims to further student's individual and group-working skills, whilst challenged to develop the skills of professional pitch as well as crit skills as part of their evaluative and making practice. Finally, this module presents a continuation of the student's design and systems thinking development on an interdisciplinary level.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Week 1 - Intro to Social Design.
Week 2 - Ethics and research in social design
Week 3 - 8 will alternate between intensive tutorials and project development (workshops, community visits, fabrication labs).
Week 9 - CRIT and pitch development.
Week 10 - Final pitch with showcase.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- 1. Co-create and develop a research and development process to identify and address a social need.
- 2. Understand theories and methodologies of social design theory and practice.
- 3. Understand design ethics and sustainability and incorporate these into professional design practice.
- Document an understanding of appropriate community research and co-design methods.
Indicative reading list
https://rl.talis.com/3/warwick/lists/55BF48A1-DFC9-FEE0-9055-98B59692A1CA.html?lang=en&login=1
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Research element
Students will be undertaking research on a multi-stakeholder level and will be testing their concepts with a target audience. This module will introduce them to an ethics form in the introductory part of the learning journey.
Interdisciplinary
This module is entirely interdisciplinary as all modules in Design Studies - direct links to UX, UI, service design, anthropology, spatial studies, design thinking, digital ethnography, and critical studies - just to name a few.
International
This module will provide an international array of contributors and authors to encourage students to undertake holistic learning from multiple perspectives.
Subject specific skills
Accessing, evaluating, synthesising and applying knowledge for specific community design challenges. Participating in group discussions, design activities and reflections. Facilitating and leading group discussions, design activities, reflections. Doing design studies (descriptive, analytical, creative). Communicating design studies in a range of formats, synchronously and asynchronously, to a wide range of audiences. Creating and using a personal portfolio of studies, notes and reflections. Understanding and applying appropriate and ethically considered methods when researching and co-designing with communities. Delivering a professional design pitch to a target audience. Developing rapid and refined prototypes to support design proposal and implementation. Curate and exhibit work for discourse and dissemination.
Transferable skills
All of the above are transferable. In addition, advanced digital skills including collaborative whiteboards, setting up and running online collaborations, visualisation and planning tools, project management tools.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 10 sessions of 3 hours (20%) |
| Private study | 40 hours (27%) |
| Assessment | 80 hours (53%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
Students will be working in groups asynchronously on their group brief as well as individually in their own time towards a presentation and critical research analysis, and design proposal portfolio.
Costs
| Category | Description | Funded by | Cost to student |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment and project costs |
Materials will be supplied for workshop inductions and course-based teaching sessions. While there will be some provision of basic materials, students will drive their own practice and therefore may require a broader set of materials and/or tools than can be provided. This is individualised and will be at the student’s cost. |
Student | £0.00 |
| Printing and photocopying |
Students have the option to print their work using University printers by purchasing print credit. This cost is not covered by the department. |
Student | £0.00 |
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| Design Portfolio | 60% | 40 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
This part of the coursework will contain students research, full process and final rendition and pitch of the given Social Design Brief. |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Assessment component |
|||
| Professional Pitch | 20% | 20 hours | No |
|
This part of the coursework entails students' group pitch of their proposed Social Design concept as part of the module showcase. |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Assessment component |
|||
| Critical Research Analysis | 20% | 20 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
This coursework will be a critical reflective piece about the learning journey. It will be templated and divided between critical review and reflective writing. |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Feedback on assessment
Formal and informal, class-based, live assessments and written feedback in line with rubric.
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 2 of UDIA-H1L8 Undergraduate Design and Global Sustainable Development