Design Max

This subject is not offered in 2016.

170 hours

Admission to the Master of Design (234AA)

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject will introduce students to concepts of design research, design management, design data collection and analysis, and a variety of different design strategies and methodologies as they impact upon diverse professional disciplines working in the contemporary built environment. Research by design and through design will be highlighted through two seminar intensives where design experts from multiple disciplines will introduce advanced approaches to theory and practice where abstract and applied notions of design are maximized to achieve optimum outcomes.

• To gain an advanced understanding of design research as a methodology.
• To understand the application of design research methods in contemporary global practice in the built environment.
• To be able to articulate, frame and implement a design research question and methodology that might be applied to design practice.

Written and drawn exercises, project and fieldwork equivalent to 5,000 words, 100%, due throughout semester.

Edward De Bono, Parallel Thinking: from Socratic thinking to De Bono Thinking (Viking, London, 1994).
Tom Inns (ed), Designing for the 21st century: interdisciplinary methods and findings (Ashgate, Farnham, England, 2010).
Peter Rowe, Design Thinking (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1987).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Understanding design research as a methodology.
• Awareness of and application of advanced skills in a range of design research methods.
• Understanding of academic writing conventions.
• Capacity to frame design research questions clearly and concisely.
• Capacity to determine relevant research methods to explore a research question through design.
• Capacity for independent, analytical and critical thought and reflection.