In this studio course, students:

1. Explore the role of designers in an explosively dynamic field / profession in a radically transforming world.

a. Articulate differences in the design practice as it relates to design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0.

i.   Measures: able to discuss differences in design practices and design roles in design 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 at end of course.

ii.   Able to position themselves in a design practice.

iii.   Able to describe the type of design practice they want to engage in.

b. Articulate how design thinking differs and is similar in design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0.

i.   Measures: able to discuss how design thinking processes may vary in design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0.

c. Articulate (a) the kind of design practice that one is most familiar with, and the kind of design practice one aspires to; (b) how to redirect ones practice to the aspiration.

i.   Meaures: able to discuss how ones current design practice is linked to sustainability/unsustainability.

ii.   Able to discuss pathways to a culture of sustainament.

2. Design practice, design practitioner, and identity

a. Articulate how your design practice shapes you, how you shape your design practice, and how your identity as a designer reflects your design practice.

i.   Meaures: ability to reflect and articulate own design practice and identity.

b. Describe the habitus that shapes you as a designer, and how might you redesign your design practice.

i.   Measures: able to describe some of the current factors that shape own design practice.

ii.   Able to articulate how major forces that are shaping the future in turn affect design practice (e.g., 9 pathways WBSC plan for 2050).

3. Learn to use long-range strategic scenarios to understand the forces that will create change that shapes the design of material culture, social environment, and politics.

a. Where do strategic scenarios come from, what they have been used for, and who uses them?

i.   Measures: able to articulate what strategic scenarios are, who makes them, and how designers can use them.

b. What forces are captured in strategic scenarios?

i.   Measures: able to articulate forces captured in strategic scenarios.

c. What are some limitations of strategic scenarios?

i.   Measures: Able to critique strategic scenarios: what assumptions are being made, what is in and what is left out.

d. How might strategic scenarios inform design practice? Give an example for design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0.

i.   Measures: articulate implications of strategic scenarios on different levels of design 1.0, 2.0, 3.0.

4. Develop the tools, skills, resources required to be a proactive agent of positive change.

a. What design tools, methods, and processes are typically used in design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0?

i.   Measures: able to articulate how own design project fits into design 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 frameworks and what design methods, tools, and resources are appropriate for their design.

b. How do such design tools, methods, and processes differ? What is similar across these types of design?

i.   Measures: able to articulate differences.

c. What are the materials being shaped in design 1.0, design 2.0, and design 3.0?

i.   Measures: able to articulate materials shaped in their project.

d. How do the three kinds of design influence each other?

i.   Measures: able to articulate relationships between three types of design.

5. Collaborate with team members; learn from guest lecturers (e.g., researchers / professionals across the CMU campus and the Pittsburgh region).

a. Create presentations that effective communicate your design process and productively engage your audience.

b. Able to work productively as a team.

c. Able to navigate team conflict productively.

i.   Measures: self and team member assessments.

6. Gain teamwork experience to understand how high performing multi-disciplinary teams operate.

a. Articulate what your own strengths and weaknesses are as they relate to working on a design team.

b. Articulate skills that you would like to improve.

c. Develop a team contract that specifies the standard operating procedures for your team, and what the operating procedure is for unplanned issues.

d. Reflect on what you received from your team. What did you give to your team?

e. Articulate what you might do differently on the next team project? How would you change your team contract.

f. Develop a reflection strategy in your team to become cognizant of what, and how you can improve the effectiveness of your team and your interactions with your team members.

i.   Measures: team contract, team contract revisions, and self and team member assessments.

7. Student teams will create design scenarios for sustainable lifestyles in Pittsburgh 3.0 set in 2050 (e.g., home, work, learning, health, community, mobility, play).

i.   Measures: design project deliverables.

8. The design studio course is delivered in a traditional studio setting, augmented by global guest lecturers.

a. Participate in an online studio environment, interacting appropriately with course instructors, teaching assistants, and guest lecturers.

i.   Measures: participating in online discussion, commenting on team blog documentation.

ii.   Participating in-class discussion.

b. Document your design process online in realtime, so that guests are able to understand what you are currently working.

i.   Measures: team blog, and self reflection blog.

9. Develop metacognitive awareness about three types of design knowledge.

a. Declarative design knowledge. Knowledge about what factors affect ones performance.

b. Procedural design knowledge. Knowledge about doing things such as methods, heuristics, and strategies.

c. Conditional design knowledge. When to use declarative or procedural design knowledge. Be able to allocate resources when using strategies.

i.   Measures: self-reflection and team process in blogs

1. 10.         Develop metacognitive design regulation skills

a. Plan. Make a plan that selects the correct resources for the problem.

b. Monitor. Be aware of your comprehension and task performance.

c. Evaluate. Appraise your work with regards to the final product of a task and efficiency with which the task was performed. Re-evaluate the strategies that were used.

i.   Measures: self-reflection and team process in blogs

1. Foresight look back from the future.

a. Create personas for the future.

b. Identify the forces that are likely to shape the futures.

c. Identify a series of futures that capture a design space (i.e., both desirable and undesirable).

d. Articulate pathways and milestones to the futures.

i.   Measures: clearly articulated in design process presentations.

1. Insight look forward from the present.

a. Determine what, how, why current resources might align with your design vision

b. Identify strategic options (existing, and desirable).

i.   Measures: clearly articulated in design process presentations.

1. Farsight explore other contexts

a. Explore analogous industries for instances of desirable presents that might inspire desirable futures.

b. Seek alternative values, worldviews, and perspectives that might inform innovation

c. Articulate the aspects, strategies, and values that apply to the problem/opportunity space contexts and other mindsets.

i.   Measures: clearly articulated in design process presentations.

1. Topsight see the big picture, develop, test, implement

a. Prototype multiple iterations

b. Explore multiple approaches to protyping your design solution

c. Test and validate your prototypes with diverse audiences throughout the design process from start to finish.

d. Use the user testing data to refine your prototypes iteratively

e. Create a user experience prototype to communicate your design (e.g.,video sketch, working prototype, etc).

f. Craft a compelling presentation (a pitch) to communicate your process, design solution, and future work and seek future funding to expand your project.

g. Communicate and document your design process throughout the design process (e.g., no process fiction, actual process).

h. Reflect on your experience on each design phase. Answer the following questions:

i.   what did you discover / learn

ii.   What did your team do really well

iii.   what were you challenged by

iv.   what did you question

v.   what would you do differently