Topic outline

  • Welcome to Design Bits

    Design bits


    IMPORTANT: You will find the content for this online course starting from October 30th at: designbits.aalto.fi

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    COURSE DESCRIPTION

    This is an introductory self-paced online course about design for non-designers: people who are curious about what design is, how designers work, and how to work with designers.

    The course is divided into seven chapters where we explain the basic definitions of design, introduce models for understanding the design process, and show the value of design in industry and society:

    Chapter 01 - Design Relevance
    1.1  Why does design matter today?

    1.2  What kind of value do designers bring? 


    Chapter 02 -     Design basics: Concepts and Definitions
    2.1 How to define design?
    2.2. What are the sub-areas of the design profession?

    Chapter 03 - Pillar Sustainability
    3.1 How do designers tackle sustainability in their work? Part 1: Products
    3.2 How do designers tackle sustainability in their work? Part 2: Product-service systems

    Chapter 04 - Pillar Collaboration
    4.1 – How do designers collaborate with users?
    4.2 – How do designers collaborate with other stakeholders?


    Chapter 05 - Pillar Innovation
    5.1 How does design relates to innovation?
    5.2 What tools do designers use in their work?


    Chapter 06 - Pillar Management
    6.1 What is design management?
    6.2 How to introduce design to an organization?


    Chapter 07 - Wrapping up
    7.1 What is good design?
    7.2 Where should you go next?


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    OBJECTIVES

    After taking this course, the student:


    • Understands the value of design and its main approaches to sustainability, collaboration, innovation and management.
    • Knows about the different design fields and understands design’s possible application to different areas.
    • Understands the importance of the user’s perspective and knows design tools that help include users in projects.
    • Can describe the design thinking process, its phases, and its most relevant tools and methods.

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    WORKLOAD

    Readings and online materials 40h
    Activities 14h

    TOTAL: 54 h (2 ECTS)


    In the course, there are two types of activities (1) multiple-choice questions, which students get the correct answer as soon as they answer and (2) open-ended activities, which need to be revised by the teacher in charge of the course.

    In assessing the open-ended activities, we will look at how the students reflected in the content of the course and how they were able to utilize these learnings while going through the activities.

    Passing the course requires going through the online material and completing all the activities.

    The deadline for submitting the exercises is 04/12/2020.

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    STUDY MATERIALS

    All the lessons of this online course can be found at designbits.aalto.fi

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    PREREQUISITES

    No required prior studies.

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    GRADING

    Pass / Fail

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    QUESTIONS?

    Send an e-mail to andrea.bandoni@aalto.fi ; paulo.dziobczenski@aalto.fi