DES 135A Furniture Design
In this course, students learn how to conceptualize and build furniture and three dimensional objects. The course provides a brief historical overview of furniture and objects, including furniture as components of interior and/or exterior environments, human factors in design, the process of designing furniture and objects, from defining a problem to evaluating the results. The course will prompt students to explore sustainable design, design for disassembly, lifecycle analysis, low cost construction and utilize a variety of standard, ecological and recycled materials, including wood, metal, plastic and non-traditional materials. The studio practice will reinforce students’ understanding of traditional and emerging construction techniques, design for a full range of users with varying abilities and a variety of environments and contexts.

 

DES166 Human-Centered Design
This course introduces students to a human-centered approach to problem solving (often referred to as design thinking). During the course, students will work on real world projects that will help them to develop an understanding of design thinking and various methods of creative problem solving. The course will include fundamental readings in design thinking, interactive design methods and processes, and hands-on projects. Students will learn how to conduct design research, focus on meaningful interventions, and create products, Services, and/or experiences to address user needs.

 

DES167 Prototyping: Objects to Systems
This course teaches students how to use a prototyping mindset to quickly explore a wide range of potential ideas with minimal time and risk. Students will be expected to use prototypes as learning tools for projects including physical products, digital experiences, relationships, and more complex systems. This course does not promote a single prototyping method, but rather stresses the creative approach to learning about unexpected questions. During this course, students will get an overview of prototyping tools and methods from both academia and industry. The projects will provide a opportunities for students to explore and test these methodologies. Materials and tools that will be introduced include, foam core, low-resolution prototyping materials, interactive “click-through” prototyping software, 3D-printing and other rapid prototyping technologies, business model canvas, and additional tools. In addition to these tools, students will hone the mindsets that are critical for effective prototyping. They will practice flexible thinking, conceptualiztion, the ability to focus on a the central theme of a product/service, the ability to isolate variables, identify critical risks, and construct scenarios that offer learning about potential challenges, and finally, the ability to conduct effective “tests” with imperfect offerings.