Envisioning the Future

Surgical simulator for knee replacement training by Nitin Gurram, rewarded with a Red Dot Award in 2020.

Biomechanics of Product Use

by Richard Goossens

The musculoskeletal system is basically the mechanics of a person. And people are as different on the inside as we are on the outside. By understanding anatomy and what goes on inside the human body, designers can account for physical factors when it comes to product innovation. It’s technical but with a human touch.

This elective course takes human-centred design to new depths by truly seeing the user from the inside. By learning about the musculoskeletal system, what’s under the surface, the mechanics of a person. It’s about blending engineering and anatomy from a design point of view.

Learn the basics of anatomy. Comprehend the terminology in order to develop a language for working with people in medical disciplines.

Explore modelling, from simple pen and paper exercises to more detailed methods using freely available software. Get a broader understanding of how to translate a problem through a case study by modelling to predict the effects of interaction processes on the musculoskeletal system. Imagine the complexity of the knee joint and how to design for surgery. Or imagine a shoe and what happens to the joints or muscles of the wearer while running. How can that shoe be improved from a design point of view?

Gain valuable insights about biomechanics and how to improve the ergonomic quality of consumer products.

“Through this course, I hope students gain an understanding of how different people are inside, not just outside. And I hope they will be inspired to explore the world of healthcare in future studies, maybe even choosing the Medisign master’s track.”

Illustration by Kars Alfrink.

Design Analytics

by Himanshu Verma

What does it take to make an existing design even better? Design is a perpetual process. This course is not about creating something, but instead begins by exploring what happens after the first iteration. Through the design analytics process, learn to observe and analyse interactive products and services to find creative ways of improving their design.

This elective course aims to provide a set of tools for designers to take an existing design and improve upon it.

Learn to assess and understand the impact that a design has on users or stakeholders, whether it be cognitive, experiential or perceptual. Explore how to use this information to make actionable design guidelines which then help improve a design in the next iteration.

Delve into the five-stage design analytics process. First, learn to diagnose gaps or issues in the current design in order to formulate a design research question. Then synthesise the problem and translate it into a user study or experiment. Conduct the study in a real-world environment. Analyse the collected data in order to be able to visualise and communicate in effective ways to the stakeholders. And finally, prescribe steps that can be taken to improve the product or service.

This course provides valuable skills and knowledge that help designers develop into researchers.

“We want students to make a hypothesis, to ask crazy questions, to go out and test them. It’s a circle that kind of fuels a feedback loop. To be able to say I can see some results, I will fail some of the time but when I succeed it will be a great joy. That kind of exploration is very inspiring.”