Systemic Design Studio

This is a design studio of DfI theme 2: Design for Societal Innovation and SPD theme 2: Strategic Design for Social and Sustainable Innovation.

In this immersive design studio, you will experience designing in the context of complex societal challenges in a multidimensional way and learn how to adapt key capabilities to this specific context. You will engage with real-world challenges and learn how to create design interventions (artifacts, services, strategies, processes or any other manifestations of design) that intentionally contribute to system-level change. You will do this by envisioning alternative futures and designing for them through the use of systemic design methods and principles. You will learn how to perceive societal challenges and the way to address them through various theoretical lenses including complexity theory, network theory and evolutionary design. You will also learn research methods to investigate complex societal challenges, as well as systemic design principles to design for them. The theoretical and methodological knowledge will be integrated in the design project that you will undertake as a part of this hands-on course. Throughout the course you will be working on multiple real challenges coming from clients in consecutive design cycles. Design skills and capabilities like (visual) communication techniques for systemic design and design leadership in public/private ecosystems will also be practiced in this course. Finally, while expanding your portfolio through systemic design, you will also have the opportunity to expand your network through engaging with stakeholders in relation to your chosen challenges and conduct field research as you follow participatory design approaches to learn how to balance the interests and concerns of individuals, communities, organizations and other actors that form the society.

The study goals of this course will be assessed by two formative assessment moments (after cycle 1 and 2) and one summative assessment at the end of the last design cycle (resulting in Pass, Fail or Fail with opportunity to compensate).

Each design cycle emphasizes different parts of the systemic design process and allows the students to dive deeper in exploration, communication, intervention and reflection. The assessments (both formative and summative) will be done through a pass/fail model to support experimentations with various systemic design principles in the course. While continuous coaching will ensure expert feedback, the course will also involve multiple peer feedback moments where the students can share progress and engage with the rubric at the same time.

The distribution between group and individual work is as follows:

Assessment cycle 1 (group, formative) design a systemic communication intervention (presentation)

For A1 student groups will be asked to present the outcome of their design work and describe their design process for the formative assessment. There will be a mid-way presentation as well, where students receive formative feedback on their progress (based on rubric).

Assessment cycle 2 (individual, formative): design systemic intervention concept (video presentation)

At the end of cycle 2 the students will be asked to submit a short video presentation of their conceptual design, which forms the formative assessment. Continuous guidance will ensure coach feedback and students will also receive peer feedback in an organized session.

Assessment cycle 3 (group with an individual reflection component, summative): detail systemic design intervention and evaluation (report and presentation)

In A3 students will work in groups again to further iterate on (one of their chosen) design concepts. They will first present their detailed design work to peers, coaches and clients and receive formative feedback (based on rubric). Later on, the groups will be asked to submit a short written document that describes the outcome and the process, which forms the summative assessment. A part of this document will be dedicated to individually written reflections.

The final grade (pass/fail) will be calculated individually.

The course has a strong emphasis on group work, where students work in a group during 15 of the 20 course weeks to reflect the collaborative nature of systemic design practices. However, we want to highlight the importance of gaining creative confidence individually when designing for systemic change and therefore the second design cycle is formulated as an individual assignment. Despite suggesting an individual journey, the second design cycle will benefit from the interactive atmosphere in the studios and the process will be strengthened by peer feedback in addition to coach and client support. After the individual part, students will come back together in groups and collectively choose a path to continue.