DG4S33 - Design Thinking Lab 05 Dec 2019 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: DG4S33
Module Title: Design Thinking Lab
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Games and Design
Faculty Sub Group: Design
Module Leader: Philip Harfield
Module Team: Steven Wright
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100811 - creative management
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 05 Dec 2019
Valid To 31 Aug 2026

Module Aims

To enable advanced understanding of the ‘design thinking’ processes and creative methods for complex problem-solving.

Specific aims:

  • To develop professional skills in the use of design thinking methods and tools to ‘design the right thing’ and ‘design things right’
  • To enable students to develop a design thinking mindset, demonstrating critical intent and personal agency in the application of design thinking
  • To facilitate conceptual, experimental and iterative approaches to the application of design thinking to real-world challenges. Explore radical and incremental innovation outcomes
  • To provide students with a platform to share insights from different disciplines, bring together multiple stakeholder perspectives and citizen-centered thinking

Content Summary

Content within this module will develop advanced understanding through :

  • Applying a considered methodological approach to: problem setting and framing; identifying opportunities from insights; generating ideas; prototyping concepts; validating and testing outcomes
  • Drawing on contemporary and future contexts of business practice (examined in the Global Contexts and Systems’ module), to critically appraise Design Thinking processes and methods to derive solutions to organisational challenges

Within the module students will explore ‘designerly’ approaches to framing and responding to challenges (brief setting, brainstorming, ideation, prototyping etc.), alongside social science derived techniques (empathy mapping, personas, ethnographic interviews etc) and business orientated approaches (value propositions, innovation strategy, business modelling etc).

Through seminar and workshop activities, content within this module will provide opportunities to explore design process where divergent and convergent thinking and iterative experimentation drive innovation.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Seminar 20
Tutorial 8
External visits 4
Independent Study 100
Directed Study 60
Groupwork 8
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Advanced understanding of design thinking process and articulate the role of creative thinking in the direction of innovation projects.
LO2 Apply creative thinking techniques to problem solving with critical reflection in the synthesis of complex (incomplete, contradictory or systemic) areas of knowledge.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1 Presentation of insights: Communication of Design Thinking rationale applied to a multi-iteration design thinking process 15 N/A 40 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 Design thinking workbook: A personal resource portfolio of ways of working and illustrative of critical pathways through a full design thinking process 0 N/A 60 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1
Portfolio 1

Reading List

Brown, T., and Katz, B., 2009. Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York: Harper Business. 658.4063 BRO

Cross, Nigel., 2011. Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Berg. 745.201

Dorst, K., 2015. Frame innovation?: create new thinking by design /. Cambridge, Massachusetts?: The MIT Press. 745.2 DOR

Dunne, A., 2013. Speculative everything design, fiction, and social dreaming. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England.

Goldschmidt, G., 2014. Linkography: unfolding the design process, Design thinking, design theory. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Julier, G., 2013. The Culture of Design, 3rd Revised edition. ed. Sage Publications Ltd, Los Angeles. 745.2 JUL

Kelley, T., and Kelley, David., 2015. Creative confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. New York: William Collins. 658.314 KEL

Lewrick, M., 2018. The design thinking playbook?: mindful digital transformation of teams, products, services, businesses and ecosystems /. Hoboken, New Jersey?: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 658.4094 LEW

Lidwell, W. et al. (2023) Universal principles of design?: 200 ways to increase appeal, enhance usability, influence perception, and make better design decisions. Updated and expanded third edition. Beverly, MA: Quatro Publishing Group USA Inc.

McDonough, W. & Braungart, M., 2009. Cradle to cradle : remaking the way we make things, London: Vintage. 658.5752 MCD

Roger, M., 2013. The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. 658.4063 MAR

Sterling, B., 2005. Shaping things, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 745.2 STE

Verganti, R., 2009. Design-driven innovation: Changing the rules of competition by radically innovating what things mean. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. 658.514 VER