Design in innovation: creation for adoption

MGT-406 / 4 credits

Teacher(s): Groves Emily Clare, Henchoz Nicolas, Laperrouza Marc

Language: English

Withdrawal: It is not allowed to withdraw from this subject after the registration deadline.

Summary

Using a human-centered and transdisciplinary approach, this course applies a structured design process to develop creative and viable propositions benefiting both society and the economy.

Content

Note: the first three weeks are instrumental to the rest of the semester as they provide specific tools and the core theoretical background for performing the group project.

Climate change, digital health, trust in AI: all these essential challenges require more than just science, technology and business. In order for new solutions to be adopted by society, we must involve humans in the process to understand practical needs and constraints, but also cultural perspectives, emotions and underlying motivations.

In this course, we delve into human needs and perception and explore how creative methodologies can be embedded into adesign process.

The course aims to provide:

A practical design research framework with emphasis on the creative process, user experience research and innovation.

Tools and skills to address real problems with real people, through an applied project performed in small groups.

An understanding of how to ensure a project's viability by defining how value is created, delivered and captured.

Throughout the semester, you'll experiment with creative approaches to generate creative and viable propositions by focusing on user experience.

You will learn these concepts by working on an applied project in small groups over the whole semester. Project themes will be related to a current research topic from EPFL+ECAL Lab, allowing interaction with researchers, practitioners and stakeholders. You will conduct field research, create prototypes, and perform tests with real users.

Keywords

Design, user experience research, creativity, prototyping, viability

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

None

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

Apply a design process to a project brief
Conduct field research with stakeholders
Integrate scientific and cultural references into a design process
Develop a creative and viable solution through prototyping
Assess / Evaluate user experience of a proposed solution

Transversal skills

Demonstrate a capacity for creativity.
Make an oral presentation.
Communicate effectively, being understood, including across different languages and cultures.
Use a work methodology appropriate to the task.

Teaching methods

Lectures, consultations with lecturers, in-class and out-of-class activities.

Expected student activities

Group work, field work, prototyping, engaging with stakeholders.

A maximimum number of 50 students will be accepted in this course, however students are encouraged to attend the first two classes even if there are no spaces left on IS Academia. Please note that those students that have not attended since the first class will not be accepted.

Assessment methods

Presentation of the challenge definition, prototypes and documentation of the project will be graded as follows:

Mid-term project presentation (group) 30%
Final project and presentation (group) 40%
Reflexive report (individual) 30%

Supervision

Office hours	Yes
Assistant.e.s	Yes
Forum	No
Others	external experts

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Bibliography

Henchoz, N., & Mirande, Y. (2014). Design for Innovative Technology: From Disruption to Acceptance (1st edition). EPFL Press.

Muratovski, G. (2021). Research for designers: a guide to methods and practice (2. ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2014). Value proposition design: how to create products and services customers want. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.

Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things. MIT Press.