Welcome to the Design Theory & Methodology course!
The next re-exam for the Design Theory & Methodology course will be organized as a e-exam on the 24th of February.
You can register for the exam by following the link below:
https://exam.aalto.fi/enroll/exam/5681?code=MUO-C0005
The questions will only be available in the system between 14.00 and
16.55 so please only reserve a time slot that fits this time period.
Theorizing (and learning to talk and reflect) about design is an important but challenging subject of inquiry. Design is a broad term, used to characterize and describe a variety of actions, activities, process and outcomes. It is also a term that seems to be continuously appropriated to describe outcomes and activities in new settings. As a result, what actually is meant when someone talks about ‘design’ - or says that something is ‘designed’ or having ‘a design’ - is often ambiguous and open for interpretation. Yet, being able to articulate the scope and value of one's work represents an important part in becoming a designer.
The fluid nature of the term design is further complicated by the fact that the professional realm of designers’ work is equally broad and open for interpretation. The domain of work of designers is seen to cover everything from arts and crafts to engineering design to advertising and marketing to creative work in development processes more generally. The professional realm of designers work seems also ever expanding. Nowadays, besides a variety of professionals working under the title of being ‘a designer’, professionally trained designers work both independently as well as members of teams in a variety of organizational settings in society. As such, how design is understood - and what value you may bring to a process - is highly contextual and depends very much on the person that you are talking to.
In the Design Theory & Methodology course, we will explore the blurry and every-expanding field of design in an attempt to bring some structure to what is meant with design and designing in different settings as well as what potentially is similar and different to the work of designers across different sub-fields of design. Throughout the course, in providing your tools for reasoning about design in different settings, you will be introduced to fundamentals concepts and ideas about design and designing in design literature. You will also do assignments and take part in inclass discussions to refine your analytical and reasoning skills on the subject.
At the end of the course, the goal is that you hold a richer view on design and designing as well as is better equipped to discuss what it potentially entails to work as a designer in different sub-fields of design and what type of value you can bring to different types of development processes. In support for future studies in the area, the goal is also that you are better equipped to use theories and methods to understand and learn new design practices as well as develop a more reflective stance on your work as a practicing designer.
For the autumn semester of 2020, the contact teaching for the course will be organized online. The written exam at the end of the course will be organized on campus. For those students who cannot attend (or fail) the exam, a re-exam will be organized during the spring semester.
