Understanding Organisations

Data

by Marco Rozendaal

Data is intertwined in many aspects of everyday life. It is connected to people, things and organisations, forming a data ecology. Think of this course as a sort of safari through ‘data-land’, observing the various sources and uses for data. In the end, discover how data plays an important role as a material in the design process.

This course is about understanding data, seeing it as a new design material and using it in responsible ways.

Develop a technical, social and ethical understanding of what data is. Learn how products and services can be shaped by data as a design material. Zoom out to see the systemic view of data as part of a complex ecology that involves different stakeholders. Explore the transdisciplinary nature of data.

Work on a design case based on a societal challenge. Consider different types of data and then map out a data ecology involving relevant stakeholders, needs and values. Reflect on the ethical implications of the data being used. Learn to formalise data and create visualisations that are insightful and useful in forming hypotheses. Bring it all together to produce a design proposal based on data. Ultimately, it’s about preparing designers to use data to empower rather than exploit people, helping to shape the future in responsible ways.

This course is directly applicable to Design Project 3 and any project where data is part of the design process.

“I hope at the end of this course students feel like they understand and can work with data, that it is demystified. It’s about making data tangible for them and workable in a design project. I want them to see data as a design material in its different ways, different angles, different perspectives.”

Project by Eva van Eck, Matthijs de Koning, Dario Sapienza and Jia Wang. Photo by Guus Schoonewille.

Biopunk City by Munashichi.

Envisioning the Future

by Roy Bendor

What will the world look like in five, ten or even fifty years? Design is by nature a future oriented activity. This course offers a better understanding of how design changes the world in very material ways. Open your eyes, explore different ways of thinking, and create your own vision of the future.

Design is by nature a future oriented activity. Every design process starts with an understanding of what the future is going to be like for a particular object, service or environment. Who is going to be the future user that will use what we make, where are they going to use it and how?

This course is about developing the knowledge and skills required to conceptualise the future as a designer. To see the links between practice and ideas. It’s about combining research and creativity.

Consider different ways to think about the future by exploring things like pop culture and science fiction. Work with futuring techniques taken from different disciplines, like road mapping for businesses, horizon scanning, design fiction, and speculative design. Explore the ethical, social, cultural, and political aspects of design, especially when it comes to technologies.

This course will provide a set of tools to help think about and create a rich image of the future which can be applied to Design Project 3 and beyond.

“I hope this course motivates students to really think about how different ideas of the future percolate and circulate in culture and design practice, to give them a nice palate of ideas and a vocabulary to talk about these things. We want to give students something that is both useful and inspiring.”