DES.3300 Designing with Community Partners
This course is an upper-level course in design thinking. Students have already been introduced to the individual steps of design thinking. In this course, students will learn and practice in a variety of design research methods to develop further understanding of design thinking. Additionally, students will apply the process and mindsets of design thinking in the context of an authentic problem or challenge with an organization on a project that has already been identified by the instructors. Instructors will have already scoped the project/problem with the business/organization. Working directly with our community partner, students will conduct empathy research to understand the user, work to define the problem, ideate, and prototype and test solutions. Emphasis will be placed in the iterative nature of design thinking as well as the importance of co-design, working with your end-users to develop solutions. Through this experience, students will practice the design thinking mindsets of empathy, collaboration, embracing failure, creative confidence, and a bias toward action. Students will also be learning digital strategies to share research findings with the community partner. Students will learn to work directly with stakeholders developing collaboration skills and communication skills.
Prerequisite
Prerequisite: DES.2050