Design Thinking and Multidisciplinary Development Projects, 15 credits

Main field of study

Course level

Advancement level

Course offered for

• Master`s Programme in Business Administration - Strategy and Management in International Organisations

Entry requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent of at least 180 ECTS credits.

Intended learning outcomes

After completion of the course, the student should on an advanced level be able to:

• plan, develop, realize, test, evaluate and deliver a product, service, system and/or process that is viable (business aspects), feasible (technical aspects) and desirable (human aspects), and to do so within predetermined timeframes. 
• collect, organize and evaluate the information necessary to diagnose a complex problem
• communicate across borders, in multidisciplinary teams, give and take feedback, coordinate multiple tasks and activities as well as prioritize between them, in order to reach common goals.
• communicate results orally and in writing to a multidisciplinary audience.

Course content

In the course  students from different disciplines and nationalities brings together to tackle corporate partners' real-world problems using a (Stanford) Design Thinking process. During the course the student will learn how to use a Design Thinking process in product development, and is concentrated in practice-based learning. Student teams prototype, test and iterate in order to develop and implement innovative solutions to real world design challenges posed by corporate sponsors.

Teaching and working methods

The course starts with that the teaching teams do a one-day intensive boot camp as an overview to “design thinking” accompanied with practical exercises (small design challenge, etc.). The next step is to understand the context of the problem and here the students will do ethnographic studies of the contexts for which they will design a solution. The majority of the course will then be spent in the university lab facilities where the students will be using the available tools (such as 3D printers, modeling tools, wood workshop) to develop prototypes of increasingly sophisticated and functional form.
During the year as a project develops, weekly team meetings are held at a fixed day and time, so that students get ongoing feedback from the teaching team. These meetings will cover topics in the actual design phase or specific project issues. At regular intervals, students deliver (semi-)formal presentations and updates to their industry partners. Some moments in the course can be held at an other University (abroad).
Instruction language: English

Examination

The course will be examined through:
• The prototype (product, service, system, process)
• Written examination through the accompanying documentation (team report)
• Orally examination through team presentations
• Written examination through individual end-of-course paper
Additional, detailed information about the examinations can be found in the course’s study guide. 

Students failing an exam covering either the entire course or part of the course twice are entitled to have a new examiner appointed for the reexamination.

Students who have passed an examination may not retake it in order to improve their grades.

Grades

Department