MAPD4300 Design for Experience Course description

Admission to the Master-s programme

On successful completion of this course students are able to:

• comprehend and apply psychological mechanisms as a part of product experience and user attachment to products
• design sustainable product concepts and products for user attachment
• determine, organise and select criteria for the development of the design process
• recognise the meaning of context in the light of product attachment
• demonstrate competence in collecting data
• participate responsibly and cooperatively in group work
• discuss and argue criticisms from others during the design process
• design and refine 3D sketches, concepts and physical products that are emotionally durable
• duggest evaluation criteria for the assessment of examination objects

The most important teaching and learning methods for this course are lectures, group work, studio courses and tutoring.

• Two reflection papers
• One mini-project
• Group assignments

Individual or group [1] portfolio examination. The portfolio consists of:

• a report describing the product concept
• design process documentation
• a physical 3D product model

The examination result can be appealed against.

No restrictions.

A grading scale of A (highest) to F (lowest) where A to E is a pass grade and F is a fail grade.

Background for the study programme

Design shapes the world in which we live. It influences our personal and professional lives at every turn; past, present and future. The goal of this study programme is to provide future designers with advanced knowledge and skills in the field of product design. Graduates will gain academic and practical insight in the aesthetics of product materiality, market, product concepts and how to use design processes in collaboration with external partners.

Through the synthesis of physical and virtual product conceptualisation techniques, this programme offers students the ability to develop their tactile understanding of materials and production processes, as well as to perfect their skills using digital media. Topics such as material and conceptual communication, aesthetics, sustainability, innovation and creative problem-solving methods are major themes that run through the entire study programme.

With their Master qualification, graduates will be able to work as highly skilled professionals in all kinds of product design related work. Over and above, they will be able to competently complete and manage the elements of a product design process - from initial idea creation to the finished product and its use in a way that contributes to sustainable value creation.

Sustainable value creation means finding sustainable solutions that take the fullest account of economic, cultural and ecological concerns in their development, implementation and realisation. To ensure the programme's social relevance, such thinking is foundational in all teaching and development projects. The current research programme for the timeframe 2010-2015, Product Design: Materiality, Processes and the Future Environment, aims at developing new competence in product design in the field of materiality, methodology and sustainable environment.

Department of Product Design seeks to promote the exploratory use of materials, production processes and conceptual development tools. The creative process is nurtured in all aspects of learning and the programme's practical orientation promotes experimentation both in the studio workshops and in the student's personal development within the field of product design. To complement the development of the students' creative potential, their design processes are guided and structured by academic research and best practice methods in product design.

The programme is in accordance with EU directives in the Bologna Process, which emphasise the knowledge triangle; an interplay between research, education and innovation. These are the three central and strongly interdependent drivers of the knowledge-based society.

Work or further study

The knowledge, skills and general competence that students develop throughout this study programme prepares them thoroughly for working life as design professionals in a range of different positions. Using their acquired skills, they will be able to build bridges between those with an in-depth and detailed understanding of a narrow field of expertise and those in need of the overall view on which strategic decisions will be made.

Alternatively should the goal of the individual be to move further into the area of scientific research in product design, this Master's programme is a stepping stone for further academic development. Through the acquisition of skills in research methodology in relation to design practice, the candidate is well suited for further studies at the PhD level, both nationally or internationally.

Career Opportunities

Product designers fill a wide range of positions in different organisations in the public or private sector; nationally or internationally; in-house or in the consultancy business/industry. On completion of their master's degree, the students are thoroughly prepared and equipped to work in the design field.

Examples of workplaces for graduates of the Master's Degree in Product Design include consumer product design, industrial design, interaction design, packaging design, furniture design, business consulting, communications design, education, entrepreneurship exhibition design, information design, design management, lighting design and environmental design.