Design for Innovation: Skills, Technology, and Industry

��Ƭ

Modules

Courses / Modules / ARTD2182 Design for Innovation: Skills, Technology, and Industry

When you'll study it

Semester 1

CATS points

ECTS points

Level

Level 5

Module lead

Daniel Hobson

Academic year

2028-29

Module overview

This module supports the development of advanced design and technological skills aligned with contemporary industry practice. Emphasis is placed on current production methods and emerging technologies, and on integrating ethical, sustainable, and inclusive considerations throughout the design process. You will learn to combine materials, manufacturing processes, and digital tools to produce innovative, feasible, and responsible design solutions. You will explore the design of technology‑embedded products and systems thinking to address increasingly complex design challenges. The module encourages critical engagement with technology, enabling you to design intelligent and responsive products. Building on knowledge gained in Year 1, the module deepens your understanding of innovative materials and advanced manufacturing processes. You will also strengthen your ergonomic approach by considering cognitive and perceptual aspects of user experience. Technical workshops and lectures support learning in advanced CAD, prototyping, emerging technologies, and AI tools, while introducing key theories of technology and human–technology relationships to inform reflective and critically engaged design practice.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

The major developments in your practice and how practitioners combine skills and technologies to innovate

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Design, test and prototype innovative products using problem-solving skills, advanced digital and manufacturing tools, informed by emerging technologies, user interaction and ethical considerations.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Formulate a range of ideas using relevant industry processes and methodologies.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Employ effective and informed visual methods of presentation and communication

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching and learning methods and activities may include: • Project Briefings • Practical exercises and workshops • Group tutorials and discussions • One-to-one tutorials • Critical Reviews • Lectures • Seminars • Creative and technical workshops • Technical demonstrations and testing • Visual presentations • Creative portfolio development • School resource-based learning • Independent reading and research • Peer group learning • Group critiques • Self-assessment

Study time
Type	Hours
Independent Study	242
Teaching	58
Total study time	300

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Follett, J. (ed.) (2015). Designing for emerging technologies: UX for genomics, robotics, and the Internet of things.. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly. .

Verbeek, P. (2005). What Things Do.. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. .

Norman, D. (2023). Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centred.. MA: MIT Press.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Presentation

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: Feedback on project brief. You will experience formative feedback during the module in different learning situations, for example: tutorials, crits and written feedback.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Portfolio	100%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Portfolio	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Portfolio	100%

������Ƭ