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Designing Experiences For Learning: Reimagining Design Education With A Focus On Aiding Learning And Understanding, Stacie Rohrbach Sep 2025

Designing Experiences For Learning: Reimagining Design Education With A Focus On Aiding Learning And Understanding, Stacie Rohrbach

Learn X Design Conference Series

This paper proposes a pedagogical framework for design education that utilizes learning theories to support students in constructing knowledge, fostering understanding, and applying theory in educational contexts and professional practice. Drawing on a decade of experience teaching a cross-disciplinary course titled Designing Experiences for Learning, the paper examines how structured engagement with learning frameworks enhances students’ ability to design for themselves and their audiences. Through qualitative data collection, including self-assessments, project deliverables, classroom observations, and alumni reflections, the research demonstrates that pedagogy informed by learning theories strengthens students’ theoretical application, collaborative learning, and reflective practice. The paper also explores the …


Practicing Constructive Feedback During Design Projects, Saadeddine Shehab, Amanda Henderson, Daniel Lewis Sep 2025

Practicing Constructive Feedback During Design Projects, Saadeddine Shehab, Amanda Henderson, Daniel Lewis

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Purposefully embedding feedback tasks in existing higher education courses can be one way to support students in developing feedback literacy. Courses that introduce students to Human-Centered Design (HCD) are optimal for engaging students in providing and receiving constructive feedback. This study explored how students engaged in providing constructive feedback to their peers as they worked on a design challenge in an 8-week introduction to HCD course. Students used a digital platform that allows the instructor to create feedback sessions and prompt students to answer questions or add hashtags that can foster their engagement in constructive feedback. In this course, 11 …


From Pockets To Peace: A Letter For Designers, Michelle Helman Sep 2025

From Pockets To Peace: A Letter For Designers, Michelle Helman

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This letter for designers presents a focused position on utilizing a design justice framework as an effective method and approach in design education and design research contexts. Through a storytelling method, the letter offers examples of a design justice framework applied in theory and practice within the intertwining disciplines of peace, health, and education. The intended audience is educators, researchers, and practitioners engaged in design practices. The letter is shared as an invitation for readers to reflect on how they might experience design and its impacts, and to consider their approaches for collaborative research, education, and idea-sharing as a means …


Teaching Materials Experiments In Product Design, Sandra Dittenberger, Stefan Moritsch, Agnes Raschauer Sep 2025

Teaching Materials Experiments In Product Design, Sandra Dittenberger, Stefan Moritsch, Agnes Raschauer

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Ecological challenges have moved the engagement with materials to the forefront in product design as well as in design education. Apart from the focus on materials experience, increased attention is being placed upon the development of (new) materials in the process of designing. While there is no shortage of diverse approaches and methods for conducting materials experiments, the handling of the knowledge gained in the course does not yet approach scientific standards. The increasingly transdisciplinary context in which designers collaborate with other disciplines generates a growing need to prove the effectiveness and possible impact of the results gained. Thus, product …


Unfolding Interactions In Design Studio Courses: Visual Tools For Design Critiques In Terms Of Content And Style, Onur Yılmaz, Koray Gelmez Sep 2025

Unfolding Interactions In Design Studio Courses: Visual Tools For Design Critiques In Terms Of Content And Style, Onur Yılmaz, Koray Gelmez

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Knowledge in design studios is mostly constructed via discussions, dialogues or in a systematic way, critiques. Thus, understanding design critiques is crucial for evaluating and improving design studio courses, and thus learning and teaching experiences. This paper introduces two visual tools that can assist in categorising design critiques in terms of their flow, content and style. The first tool visualises the intensity and distribution of different critique categories to make the topics and ways to generate critiques explicit. The latter illustrates the correlations between content and style in critiques and reveals the potential relationships between them. These tools aim to; …


Exploring The Potential Of Dramatherapy In Designers’ Education, Erik Ciravegna, Glenda Pagnocelli, Elisa Vacondio Sep 2025

Exploring The Potential Of Dramatherapy In Designers’ Education, Erik Ciravegna, Glenda Pagnocelli, Elisa Vacondio

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In recent decades, design has transformed from a craft activity based mainly on manual skills and aesthetics to a strategic discipline that requires a systemic and multidisciplinary vision. Today’s designers need to cultivate soft skills such as creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration alongside traditional technical competencies. Dramatherapy, being an experiential, emotionally expressive, and conscious approach, proves to be a useful tool for acquiring these soft skills. Theatrical games, improvisation, storytelling, and dramatization techniques, such as role-playing and staging metaphors, enable design students to see different perspectives, participate in complex situations, and experience innovative ways of interaction. This contribution offers …


What Is Missing In The Loop?: Design Graduates' Perspective On Circular Design, Seher Naz Ayhan Arda, Koray Gelmez Sep 2025

What Is Missing In The Loop?: Design Graduates' Perspective On Circular Design, Seher Naz Ayhan Arda, Koray Gelmez

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Design for the circular economy has been defined in various ways in the literature. To date, discussions have centered on the roles of designers, design strategies, required knowledge and competencies, and the challenges encountered by design practitioners. Gaining a deeper understanding of circular design is crucial for facilitating the transition to a circular economy and enabling designers to integrate such approaches into their professional practices. Although the circular economy is an emerging field of study in design education, it is difficult to find studies that examine how design graduates conceptualize circular design. Addressing this gap, this study aims to unveil …


Can Ai Assess Design Students’ Projects? Discussing The Future Of Assessments With A Proof Of Concept, Ali Cankat Alan, Koray Gelmez Sep 2025

Can Ai Assess Design Students’ Projects? Discussing The Future Of Assessments With A Proof Of Concept, Ali Cankat Alan, Koray Gelmez

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Particularly in their first year of education, design students face challenges in understanding the assessment processes, as the answers are not simply right or wrong, but instead judged on a spectrum of better and worse. This confusion stems from the tacit nature of design knowledge, which is difficult for tutors to articulate. The open-ended nature of design problems, which allows for multiple correct solutions, augments this issue, leading to confusion among students about their performance. To address this subject, this paper proposes an AI pipeline to support both summative and formative assessment by utilising computer vision to enhance the transparency, …


Bridging Silos: The Impact Of An Interdisciplinary Learning Community, Fabio Tellez, Richard Elaver Sep 2025

Bridging Silos: The Impact Of An Interdisciplinary Learning Community, Fabio Tellez, Richard Elaver

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This paper presents a reflective case study of DigiFab, an interdisciplinary faculty learning community at Appalachian State University (North Carolina, USA), which explores the integration of digital design and fabrication into teaching, research, and creative endeavors. From 2019 to 2024, sixteen faculty and staff from diverse disciplines participated in monthly meetings that featured hands-on demonstrations, reflective discussions, and collaborative projects, including a collective exhibition. Data were collected through participant observation and a survey, and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five key impacts emerged: teaching methods evolved as members transitioned from observation to AI integration; research and creative work expanded through …


From Design Cognition To Human-Ai Co-Creation: Reflections On Design Thinking In Higher Education, Katja Tschimmel Sep 2025

From Design Cognition To Human-Ai Co-Creation: Reflections On Design Thinking In Higher Education, Katja Tschimmel

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Over the past decades, Design Thinking (DT) has become one of the most widely circulated concepts at the intersection of design, innovation, education, and organisational change. Originally rooted in design methodology and in scholarly attempts to understand designers’ cognitive processes, DT has progressively expanded beyond the design discipline, gaining visibility in fields such as management, engineering, entrepreneurship, and public policy. Without a question, this growth has helped design become recognised as a strategic approach to solving challenging issues. At the same time, it has intensified a persistent tension between the popularisation of Design Thinking and the preservation of its academic …


Empowering Designers In The Digital Age, Erick Heredia Sep 2025

Empowering Designers In The Digital Age, Erick Heredia

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Abstract: Traditional design education often places a strong emphasis on aesthetics, such as form and visual appeal. This focus typically confines designers to working on the external aspects of products, leaving functionality—especially engineering components—to others. Consequently, designers are limited in their ability to fully engage with the increasingly complex products that incorporate new technologies. In response to the advancements of Industry 4.0, it's essential for design education to evolve and blur the lines between aesthetics and functionality. By integrating subjects like electronics, interface design, and embedded systems into the curriculum, designers can gain a comprehensive understanding of their products. This …


The Impact Of Creativity And Goal Orientation On Design Learning, Gizem Yazıcı, Fehmi Doğan Sep 2025

The Impact Of Creativity And Goal Orientation On Design Learning, Gizem Yazıcı, Fehmi Doğan

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This study examines the relationship between the creativity levels and types of academic goal orientation of architecture undergraduate students and their design course grades, which are accepted as the outcome of the design learning process. The study conducted with 58 third-year architecture undergraduate students collected data using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and the Academic Goal Orientation Questionnaire (AGOQ). The multiple linear regression analysis results revealed a positive and significant correlation between students’ creativity scores and design course grades. In addition, learning and proving orientations positively affected design course success, while avoidance orientation had a negative effect. These …


A Study On The Development Of An Educational Board Game For Cultural Heritage Using A Design Thinking Approach, Lung Chieh Chao, Ju-May Wen Sep 2025

A Study On The Development Of An Educational Board Game For Cultural Heritage Using A Design Thinking Approach, Lung Chieh Chao, Ju-May Wen

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This study addresses the pressing challenge of preserving and effectively teaching Indigenous languages and cultures in the context of globalization. Centering on the Paiwan Indigenous culture in Qijia Village, Pingtung County, the research investigates how design thinking can be employed to develop an educational board game that responds to the language learning needs of children. The study adopts the five stages of design thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Through interviews and observations, the needs of students and teachers are identified, and culturally relevant elements are incorporated into the game design to enhance both language acquisition and cultural awareness. …


Studio Properties: A Contribution To Knowledge In Design Education, Derek Jones, Elizabeth Boling, James Benedict Brown, James Corazzo, Colin Gray, Nicole Lotz Sep 2025

Studio Properties: A Contribution To Knowledge In Design Education, Derek Jones, Elizabeth Boling, James Benedict Brown, James Corazzo, Colin Gray, Nicole Lotz

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In this paper, we present a critically reflective summary of a five-year collaborative project exploring the pedagogy of the Western design studio and the final output of that work, the book ‘Studio Properties; A Field Guide to Design Education’. We initiated the project in response to the absence of a comprehensive description or definition of the educational studio, which researchers could use to orientate their work, and educators could use to inform their teaching practices. The project concluded by rejecting any explicit description or definition of studio. Continuing that work, we proposed an alternative approach to understanding studio. Rather than …


Transition Curves: Mapping Pacing And Sequence In Digital Learning, Seulgi Kim, Zach Pino Sep 2025

Transition Curves: Mapping Pacing And Sequence In Digital Learning, Seulgi Kim, Zach Pino

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This paper presents “transition curves,” a framework for analyzing transitions in digital learning environments to support diverse cognitive needs. Transitions—moments of shifting between tasks, contexts, or cognitive states—can significantly impact learning but are often overlooked in digital design, particularly for users with attention, anxiety, memory, and learning differences. Drawing on task switching theory and temporal trajectories, we developed a visualization approach that maps pacing, sequencing, and duration to user experience outcomes. In a workshop with sixteen graduate design students, participants used transition curves to analyze digital learning tools and propose design improvements. The workshop findings show that designers typically see …


Designing Design Energetics, Bruce Tharp Sep 2025

Designing Design Energetics, Bruce Tharp

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This letter is a call to those interested in the future of design and design education, and open to challenging the dominant materialist/physicalist paradigm. With advancements in quantum science, plasma physics, and wave mechanics, new understandings and models have arisen that offer professional and academic opportunities. Design, especially of physical, three-dimensional artifacts, sees objects as essentially vehicles for valuable subjective experience. What are the implications of acknowledging that all matter is actually congealed energy, and that all people are composed of, surrounded by, and affected by frequencies? How might designers better understand and address positive resonances and negative dissonances within …


Methodological Tools For Informed And Critical Alienation, Liene Jakobsone Sep 2025

Methodological Tools For Informed And Critical Alienation, Liene Jakobsone

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This paper proposes Speculative design as a methodology to cultivate criticality and self-awareness in design students. It introduces a course assignment and discusses a range of approaches that have enabled the achievement of the anticipated learning outcomes. As part of this account, students’ difficulties to question the prevailing economic and socio-political system is presented, along with a proposal to overcome this issue. The method is based on the Speculative design project ‘United Micro Kingdoms’ by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. The ideological framework developed within this project is adopted for pedagogical purposes. This framework, depicted as a coordinate plane with …


Questioning The Intersection Of Design Thinking, Public Policy And Circular Economy: A Visual Critique, Joana Alves Dos Santos, Violeta Clemente, Paulo Silva Sep 2025

Questioning The Intersection Of Design Thinking, Public Policy And Circular Economy: A Visual Critique, Joana Alves Dos Santos, Violeta Clemente, Paulo Silva

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Through a fragmented and interrogative visual critique, this submission critically examines the intersection of Design Thinking (DT) and Circular Economy (CE) governance in policymaking. It stems from the authors’ engagement with both academic literature and practical experiences in design facilitation and participatory governance, particularly within Portuguese contexts. The work responds to recurring narratives observed in these domains, and uses visual argumentation to unpack their underlying assumptions. It argues that while both DT and CE are widely promoted as tools for systemic change and participation, their application often inadvertently reinforces existing hierarchies and limits genuine community engagement, rather than fostering equitable …


Discoverability, Availability, Circularity: An Upcycling Design Workshop, Virginie Tessier Sep 2025

Discoverability, Availability, Circularity: An Upcycling Design Workshop, Virginie Tessier

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Collective efforts to encourage the climate transition raises essential questions regarding industrial design practices. On that matter, the design process, based on the creation of goods using new resources, is questioned. Design needs to adapt and question its practices with the global desire to reduce the use of new energy, material, and resources. This paper explores the integration of upcycling and circular design in a workshop as part of the training of industrial designers. Based on the principle of “form follows availability”, the initiative stands out as complementary to traditional design workshop projects. The workshop is presented in detail with …


Learning By Teaching Blended International Design Workshops, Daniel Buzzo, Kristina Andersen, António Gorgel, Jonathan Chacón Pérez, Martin Knobel, Lara Piccolo, Pras Gunasekera Sep 2025

Learning By Teaching Blended International Design Workshops, Daniel Buzzo, Kristina Andersen, António Gorgel, Jonathan Chacón Pérez, Martin Knobel, Lara Piccolo, Pras Gunasekera

Learn X Design Conference Series

This paper draws upon the experience of designing events to provide design students with a multicultural and inspirational learning environment for exchanging knowledge and collectively build new skills. To this end, it reports on the planning, structure and subsequent delivery of an EU Erasmus+ workshop funded “Blended Intensive Program (BIP)” in a collaboration between four Design programs from four EU countries. Four professors and more than 20 undergraduate students participated, assisted by administrative staff from each of the institute’s international offices, collaborating through a blended online and in-person format. Together, the students brought both similar and different perspectives on design …


Reaffirming Learning – A Micro Examination Of Teaching Interventions And Their Connectedness, Noemi Sadowska, Tara Hanrahan Sep 2025

Reaffirming Learning – A Micro Examination Of Teaching Interventions And Their Connectedness, Noemi Sadowska, Tara Hanrahan

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This case study provides a perspective on engaging postgraduate design students in activities exploring eco-social responsibility in relation to their creative practice. It zooms into the roles and learning impacts of a collaborative online space and series of online discussion sessions, which are situated within wider research trialling a system of teaching interventions that positively disrupt the curriculum, as a mechanism for awakening learning around responsible design. It offers insights and reflection on the teaching and learning system, mapping the interconnectivity of its components whilst synthesising discoveries regarding the roles they play in building connections, reaffirming learning and navigating uncertainty.


Prompting Reflective Learning Through Card-Based Approaches, Jesper Legaard, Safia Suhaimi, Jo Ward, Andrew Walters Sep 2025

Prompting Reflective Learning Through Card-Based Approaches, Jesper Legaard, Safia Suhaimi, Jo Ward, Andrew Walters

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This study explores how two different card-based approaches, Cards of Doom and CO:RE cards, complement or inspire each other when applied outside their originally intended contexts. C.O.D is designed for design students while CO:RE targeted non-design professionals. Both tools offer semi-structured approaches to facilitate collaborative discussion among participants, fostering reflective capacity within creative-oriented contexts. An analysis of multiple card-play sessions of C.O.D and CO:RE in both their original and alternate contexts revealed three important themes; tension, psychological safety, and dialogic interaction, prompting reflective learning in the participants. The study contributes to the broader discourse on playful learning in design education, …


Designing With Communities For Humanity-Centered Design: Advancing Sustainability Knowledge And Practices In Industrial Design Education, Yoon Jung Choi, Jiayuan Dong, Brook Kennedy Sep 2025

Designing With Communities For Humanity-Centered Design: Advancing Sustainability Knowledge And Practices In Industrial Design Education, Yoon Jung Choi, Jiayuan Dong, Brook Kennedy

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Participatory design with community engagement has demonstrated significant potential for addressing the complexities of environmental governance and fostering interconnected systems to accelerate the circular economy. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift in design education, transitioning from traditional human-centered methodologies to a broader humanity-centered approach. This paper examines insights gained by Industrial Design students at Virginia Tech through a collaboration with local stakeholders in Floyd aimed at promoting sustainability. The project focused on reducing wasteful behaviors associated with end-of-life products by developing design and service solutions to minimize landfill disposal through participatory design processes. Students proposed twenty-seven design concepts …


A Gamified Approach To Teaching Circular Economy In Fashion Design, Maiara Daltoe, Sara Gancho Sep 2025

A Gamified Approach To Teaching Circular Economy In Fashion Design, Maiara Daltoe, Sara Gancho

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This research introduces an innovative sustainable design management methodology and its gamified educational tool aimed at raising awareness about sustainability and circular economy among fashion design students. The study is grounded in evidence showing that up to 80% of a garment's environmental impact is determined during the design phase, underscoring the designer's strategic role in creating sustainable products. The methodology is structured into six strategic stages: problem identification, research and analysis, idea generation and selection, consumer verification, and end-of-life cycle planning. To facilitate practical implementation, the game "The Traveling Pair of Jeans" was developed and applied to 82 fashion design …


Examining The Impact Of Design Studies: Systems And Persuasion Courses On Undergraduate Design Students At Carnegie Mellon University, Luis Garcia, Audrey Reiley, Albert Zhang Sep 2025

Examining The Impact Of Design Studies: Systems And Persuasion Courses On Undergraduate Design Students At Carnegie Mellon University, Luis Garcia, Audrey Reiley, Albert Zhang

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This study examines the impact of two courses, Systems and Persuasion, within Carnegie Mellon University's Design Studies curriculum. Through qualitative analysis of a substantial number of reflective responses collected via weekly exit tickets, the research identifies key themes that highlight the influence of these courses on second-year undergraduate design students. Students gained a nuanced understanding of design as a systemic, ethical, and collaborative practice, emphasizing systems thinking, empathy, and the implications of behavioral change across multiple scale levels. The findings suggest that students developed a heightened awareness of the interconnectedness of design interventions, recognizing the broader societal and environmental consequences …


Exploring Cultural Frames And The Visual Language Of Rituals, Amrita Datta, Amy Fortunato Sep 2025

Exploring Cultural Frames And The Visual Language Of Rituals, Amrita Datta, Amy Fortunato

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In Visual Communication Design, significant emphasis on intercultural communication has aided the development of intercultural competence. This case study investigates how design education can develop cross-cultural awareness by focusing on how cultural frames evolve through experiences and societal perception while becoming increasingly layered and complex. To fully extricate oneself from one's cultural context is challenging, but raising awareness of its limitations and subtleties is achievable. Recognizing diverse cultural frames can broaden one's perspective, leading to a more nuanced understanding of both the articulation and consumption of messaging in visual communication. Two educators located in different socio-political contexts in the United …


Transforming Education: Add-On Workshops As A Tool To Integrate Ethical Responsibility In Design Education, Elisabeth Friesinger, Stephan Krusche Sep 2025

Transforming Education: Add-On Workshops As A Tool To Integrate Ethical Responsibility In Design Education, Elisabeth Friesinger, Stephan Krusche

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Design education plays a critical role in shaping sustainable societal and environmental futures, making ethical responsibility essential. This paper examines the integration of short, flexible workshops into courses to intertwining ethics and sustainability across diverse educational contexts. Implemented at three German Universities of Applied Sciences, the workshops aimed to raise awareness and encourage students to engage with ethical challenges in their design practice. A mixed-methods evaluation, combining post-workshop surveys and facilitator observations, found that the workshops appear to increase students' awareness and understanding of their responsibilities as designers. Key success factors included an informal, interactive format and adaptability to educational …


From Portfolio To Prototype: Tinkering Workshops In Design Education, Dajana Nedic, Rachael Paine Sep 2025

From Portfolio To Prototype: Tinkering Workshops In Design Education, Dajana Nedic, Rachael Paine

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In contemporary graphic design education, there is a significant need for hands-on exploration that bridges traditional design tools with emerging technologies. This exploration affords students with opportunities to engage in tinkering—a process of iterative, playful experimentation that fosters innovation and adaptability. As Cezzar (2020) explains, by critically reflecting on material opportunities and limitations through questioning tools, materials, and processes, students gain more knowledge and clarity when creating physical and digital tools. We sought to address this opportunity by developing a technology-focused tinkering workshop at University A (name of University masked for blind review). This workshop invited students to examine the …


Exploring Cross-Disciplinary Lessons In Interaction Design Courses, Joshua Pridemore, Molly Briggs, Abigail Chen, Laura Chiaramonte, Rachael Dietkus, Fengzhou Shao, Ben Tairy, Fan Xia, Yiqi Xiao, Amanda Yates Sep 2025

Exploring Cross-Disciplinary Lessons In Interaction Design Courses, Joshua Pridemore, Molly Briggs, Abigail Chen, Laura Chiaramonte, Rachael Dietkus, Fengzhou Shao, Ben Tairy, Fan Xia, Yiqi Xiao, Amanda Yates

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This case study explores the transformative potential of cross-disciplinary approaches in teaching interaction design for social impact. By integrating insights from diverse fields such as trauma-informed design, interactive dance, media theory, and environmental storytelling, the course challenges students to think beyond traditional design practices. Students were encouraged to create projects that not only demonstrated technical and creative expertise but also engaged deeply with emotional, societal, and ethical dimensions of design. The course culminated in a public exhibition where students showcased interactive installations addressing real-world issues, including online safety, animal testing, environmental awareness, and technology addiction. Through a combination of theoretical …


Using Reverse Engineering To Bridge Design Theory And Manufacturing Practice, Manuel Hodrius Sep 2025

Using Reverse Engineering To Bridge Design Theory And Manufacturing Practice, Manuel Hodrius

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This case study presents an approach for bridging the persistent gap between design education and manufacturing practice. The module combines reverse engineering, simulated production planning, and cross-functional collaboration within a dual-track structure of theoretical lectures and a hands-on Planspiel (simulation game). It aims to strengthen students’ Design for Manufacturing knowledge and foster an interrelated mindset that enables effective collaboration across the product development process (PDP) and supports informed, strategic design decisions early on. Weekly collaborative sessions simulate authentic professional interactions, while students assume distinct industry roles, mirroring real-world team dynamics and reinforcing the systemic integration of design and production. Despite …