Programs | One Year Immersive | Quarter 1 | IDSE 102
Public Sector, Innovation, & Impact
IDSE 101
Research & Sensemaking
IDSE 102
Public Sector, Innovation & Impact
IDSE 103
Studio: Foundations
Course Overview
To be a practicing designer means to contend with our individual and collective power to create impactful change — positive, negative, and otherwise. As a group, we will be digging into the relationship between design and social change — and the ethics of our responsibilities therein. Topics include: the history of how design has defined problem spaces, the influence of tech on culture, and the ways we show up in/to/with/for/as community. We will apply the critical lenses of race, privilege, and equity to question/complicate/shift/bewilder our understanding of design history. We will strive to embody the principles of design justice and decolonization as praxis to see how they change us and our relationship to the world.
Outcomes and Competencies
The following outcome statements articulate the competencies, abilities, and skills a student will have as a result of completing this class. Upon completing this course, students will be able to:
Discuss and debate issues of design in the context of designing for the public good.
Reference and cite scholars, designers, and communities who frame design problems.
Articulate and evolve a point of view that describes the role of design and design thinking in the context of social systems, services, and spaces.
Engage with the messiness and complexities of equity, privilege, and their role in design.
Learning objective topics:
Theory of Change
Historical context of problem spaces
Understanding equity, privilege and their role in design
Historical context of design/tech relationship to public sector/social impact/innovation work
Course Schedule
Section 1
Design as “Thinking”
Class 1
Design, Us
Introductions
Class 2
What is design (verb)
Discussions of readings
Class 3
What is design (noun)
Discussions of readings
Class 4
What is design (historical context)
Discussions of readings
Class 5
Presentations
Section 2
(Co)Design and Power
Class 1
What is the medium of our work as interaction designers?
Discussions of readings
Class 2
What ethical frameworks might we consider as designers / in tech?
Discussions of readings
Class 3
What is our responsibility + relationship to power?
Discussions of readings
Class 4
What and why co-design? What is our responsibility + relationship to community?
Discussions of readings
Class 5
Presentations
Section 3
Design as Change
Class 1
Design and innovation
Discussions of readings
Class 2
Design and systems
Discussions of readings
Class 3
Design as praxis of worldbuilding and radical imagination
Discussions of readings
Class 4
Presentations
Class 5
Reflection
Q&A Fireside Chat
Ready to Launch Your Design Career?
Transform your creative aspirations into reality as you learn from experienced professionals at the Austin Center for Design. Dive into hands-on projects, receive personalized feedback, and develop a solid foundation that will kickstart your design career.