An Introduction to Design Thinking Theory and Practice
This module will equip you with valuable techniques for your next steps at University and beyond, in your studies, work, and life. No prior experience of design, innovation, group work or creativity is needed – although we will prove that everyone can do it! And we will have a lot of fun doing it.
This module is a transformational experience, developing your capabilities, establishing a network of supportive people, and a portfolio of work, so that you can quickly progress to being an effective designerly change agent in work, study, creative practice, or social development.
Every day people struggle with bad design – from small annoying things like automatic doors that don’t work properly, up to the design of ill-thought-through institutional systems that perpetuate discrimination or unsustainable waste. What if we could design things differently, better, more fairly and sustainably? In this module you will learn how to use collaborative, ethical, creative and systematic methods to make the world a better place. We call this the designerly way.
Together we can design solutions that fit with people’s needs and values, stick in use, spread to more people and places, and help us to grow our capabilities for further improvement. This is not simply theory, through practice you will build-up a valuable portfolio of experiences and skills, and have a positive impact on other people through the projects you undertake during the ten weeks and beyond.
What do you think should be redesigned to make our lives better?
You will experience working at all stages in real projects to deliver worthwhile results, within our Design Agency, contributing to work groups and whole-agency activities. You don’t need to be a natural-born collaborator to do this, we will teach you how using tried and tested methods based on practices used in real-world projects. You will be able to confidently take on responsibilities to lead and support co-workers and participants, from exploring challenges through to implementing ideas.
You will have the opportunity to try out a variety of roles within the Design Agency, to see what fits best, but also to stretch yourself into new ways of working.
The key to success in this is being open to new experiences, willing to try, trusting in the process, supporting each other, participating enthusiastically, and being systematic in reflecting on what you have encountered. You don’t have to be a natural at that from the start, we will show you how.
10 Key facts
1. Design Thinking is the most popular, most successful, approach to innovation in business, arts and social enterprise. Through this module you can become a designerly chnge agent with a powerful set of skills for improving people's lives through design.
2. A fun, fascinating and transformative journey, all students gain powerful capabilities much in demand in all industries and academic fields, along with experience of modern working practices and workplaces.
3. No previous experience necessary, but your academic and personal experiences are entirely relevant.
4. Learn a combination of creative and analytical methods for successful innovation in business, society and/or academia - meet Warwick grads who have used these techniques for success!
5. Taught in 10 weeks during the Spring Term, at 15 CATS (depending on your needs).
6. Taught in 10 x 2 hour studio sessions, combining practice, theory, field observations, experts from industry and academia, and creative workshops.
7. Comprehensive online support, including out-of-hours feedback in our own industry-standard collaboration space.
8. Assessed through a portfolio of short design studies, a group project, and a reflective essay, developed with continual feedback during the ten weeks, and completed in the Easter vacation.
9. Access to additional learning and development opportunities including:
- Introduction to web design for complete beginners;
- Art as an experience in the urban environment;
- Designing mobile apps;
- Designing and developing virtual reality experiences.
10. This module is nicknamed "the platypus module" - to find out why, read to the end of this page.
What students have said about the module
It was great!
It has really transformed my life.
I had an interview for a great job in user experience design. I used what I had learned in the module to answer the interview questions. I got the job.
The design challenges were really fun and interesting. It was enjoyable to learn a different writing style too - the portfolio is a brilliant way of doing the assessment. The showcase was an excellent opportunity to pitch ideas in a 'real life' setting outside of the academic context. The Highly Sprung workshop was another highlight.
...the interdisciplinary aspects were fused together . When we had guest speakers leading sessions Rob and Bo were there throughout to provide context and keep the coherence of the module going - making the ten week period feel like one massive interdisciplinary discussion.
About Design Thinking and the module
Introduction to Design Thinking welcomes students from every discipline who are committed to becoming effective “change agents” – people who will improve the world through business, academic research, or social innovation, using a “designerly” approach that combines creativity, technology and empathy.
Design Thinking is an internationally successful approach to innovation and collaboration. Having been popularised by the IDEO Design Company and the Stanford University d.school, it has been adopted by businesses, charities and governments around the world. Design Thinking is used to create new products, services, events, social organisations…anything that can be designed, with an attention to:
- Fitting more effectively with the needs, ambitions, values and capabilities of real people – it is a human centric approach.
- Sticking in use, being emotionally durable and environmentally sustainable – value-driven innovation, with a strong ethical basis.
- Spreading far and wide, to many people and places, so as to maximise the value of innovations – socially-conscious innovation, inclusive by default.
- Growing capabilities for further enhancement and innovation – Design Thinking is developmental by default.
It doesn’t matter if you think you are not especially creative, or that you haven’t got design skills – we will teach these as systematic methods using leading experts from Warwick and beyond. This is an opportunity to develop a much-in-demand combination of skills and ideas, giving you a significant advantage in your future career and studies. Most importantly, you will learn how to interpret the world and work with real people as design participants, safely take creative risks, learn from prototypes, and be agile and iterative. Students develop the stack of capabilities necessary for being “designerly change agents”. We visualise this as a transformative journey:
How the module is taught
You will work in three modes, based on the real-world practices of successful designerly change agents. Note that we do not have a reading week, and attendance is necessary for all sessions.
1. Whole Design Agency sessions and online activities – with a 2 hour session on campus every Friday morning. In these sessions we will coordinate Work Groups. We will introduce the methods and concepts you will use. Share reflections on experiences. Answer important questions of interest to the group. And do lively, fun, whole-agency activities. Work Groups will report into these sessions, and may be asked to lead mini-workshops called Teachbacks. The Design Agency will have its own web site and a wiki of design studies (short explorations of a real design in action). You will contribute design studies to this as part of the assessment (individually and in your group).
2. Work Group – a 1 hour session each week (except week 1) in a physical location and at a time agreed by your group. We will organise and schedule these sessions in the first week, so that all group members can attend every session. This is essential. You will produce reports and activities for the whole Design Agency sessions, as well as material for your personal journal. One of the four design studies for the assessment will be created with your group. You will also share your personal reflections (from your journal) with your peers, and get support from them to identify further goals and actions.
3. Individual Work – you need to record and reflect on your experiences continually throughout the module. This must be done in your personal journal. Use these reflections in your one-to-one sessions with the coaches. You will need to provide your personal journal as evidence to support your assessed reflective essay (1,500 words). The examiners will want to be able to look into specific details behind the claims and points you make in your essay. You will also need to contribute 3 design studies to the Design Agency wiki. Again these need to backed up by your reflective journal.
How this is assessed
You will create 3 x 300 word design studies in the Design Agency wiki, as well as 1 x 600 word design study created with your Work Group. You probably will not have created a design study before, so we will teach you how to do it and practice the skill in the whole Agency sessions. Each design study will have an initial deadline. We will give you feedback on your initial submission. You will then be able to propose improvements in your reflective journal, implement the improvements, before the final deadline. Your reflective journal will be used as evidence in assessing your design studies.
You will individually create a 1,500 word reflective essay describing and analysing your personal journey of transformation and growth through the whole module, the impacts your work has had, and how you envisage developing and applying your capabilities further. This is not a conventional academic essay. We will support you in learning how to do this.
The final deadlines for all assessments is (provisionally) in April, but you must not leave any of the work until that late. You need to be developing your work throughout the module, getting feedback, reflecting, and improving. Starting too late is a recipe for sub-optimal performance (we don’t use the word “failure” here!).
About Agent-P
The platypus is the symbol of design thinking. Agent-P is our tame platypus (spot him in the photo at the top of this page), with us for all of our work. Why the platypus? When first discovered by European scientists it was considered to be a hoax, stitched together from different animals: webbed feet, a beaver's tail, a duck-bill, venomous barbs on its feet, a mammal that lays eggs. Surely impossible? And yet this strange combination of parts is perfectly adapted to its environment and lifestyle. Design Thinkers are just like platypuses. Combining together many different disciplines, professions, skills, techniques, knowledge systems to achieve our goal. And it works. Perfectly adapted.
Module Convenor
Dr Robert O'Toole NTF
Robert dot O-Toole at warwick dot ac dot uk (right)
Times for the 2023-24 are Term 2 Friday 10am to 1pm Room OC1.03 (Oculus Building)
Please complete the Expression of Interest form if you wish to take this module in the 2023-24 academic year.