Undergraduate Course: Design Identities: Roles and Ecologies (Online) (DESI10156)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | On this course you will actively explore the roles played within a design organisation, and the ways a design organisation interacts with others to form an ecology of knowledge and production.
You will be supported to develop a new form of creative research practice, using visual methods drawn from Service Design to build a small exploratory case study on a design organisation or multi-stakeholder project of your choice. The output will take the form of an industry-facing report. This will complement the discipline-specific practices you have been building so far. |
| Course description |
This course is delivered through online distance learning. You will have regular points of online contact with your tutor. Teaching is through a combination of recorded/live lectures, online seminars/tutorials and virtual studio activities.
You will learn to combine observational and desk research methods in a case study approach, and to use visual communication tools to explore and describe the organisation or movement you are studying. Visual communication is increasingly used as part of strategic design thinking across different sectors and is a valuable skill for graduates. Design consultancies often use tools like personas and the business model canvas to visualise values, strategise, and improve their services.
There will be 2 pre-recorded Lectures to be reviewed by the end of week 3. Alongside this, there will be two live briefing/Q&A sessions in weeks 1 and 6 and two feedback/feedforward sessions in weeks 5 and 10. Seminars will also take place as whole groups in weeks 2 and 4(2 hours each) and small group tutorials weeks 1,3,7 and 9.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This course does not require additional costs to be met by students. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
185 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1) Portfolio of practice, research project plan (3 pages) and written reflections (400 words), 30%, week 5, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1 and 2, equally weighted.
2) Visual case study report (2500 words), 70%), May exam diet, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1-4, equally weighted.
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is a portfolio of practice, a research project plan, and written reflections.
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is a visual case study report (2500 words).
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Formative feedback will given throughout the course by tutors verbally in tutorials and through annotations to practice work undertaken online.
Summative feedback
Written summative feedback will be provided by the course organiser as per University regulations. Feedback on assessment one should be applied to work undertaken for assessment two.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Apply a case study approach to research.
- Apply, critique and create visual methods to support investigation and communication in a short research project.
- Evaluate roles within a design organisation or multi-stakeholder project.
- Analyse concepts of design knowledge and production ecologies.
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Reading List
Grinyer, C. (2025). Redesigning thinking. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Kolko, J. (2025). Interviewing and getting a job. Narrative Workshop Series. Available at: https://www.wonderfulnarrative.com/resource-library. (pdf in Learn)
Merholz, P. and Skinner, K. (2016). Org Design for Design Orgs. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.
Muratovski, G. (2016). Research for Designers. London: Sage.
Rodgers, P. and Smyth, M. (2010). Digital Blur: Creative Practice at the Boundaries of Architecture, Design and Art. Faringdon: Libri.
Sangiorgi, D., Prendiville, A., Jung, J., and Yu, E. (2015). Design for Service Innovation & Development Final Report. Project Report. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. (pdf in Learn)
https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/9616/
Sinclair, M. (2023). Studio Culture Now: Advice and guidance for designers in a changing world. London: Unit Editions.
Visocky O'Grady, J. and Visocky O'Grady, K. (2017). A Designer's Research Manual, 2nd Edition. Beverly, MA: Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
UK Design Council (2015). Design Methods for Developing Services. Available at: https://oecd-opsi.org/toolkits/design-methods-for-developing-services/
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry
Undertaking a small research project will develop students ability to understand professional contexts in design disciplines.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Students will learn to connect a potential workplace or experience with wider academic and intellectual frameworks through use of the suggested course reading and seminar discussions.
Aspiration and Personal Development
You will assess organisations stated values against their actions and be guided through tools to reflect on how your own values might suit particular roles in design, which will enhance students' reflexivity on values both personal and professional and how these align.
Communication
Students will develop their skill at articulating and communicating motivations around employment and career development through seminar and tutorial discussions and a small piece of reflective writing. |
| Keywords | online distance learning,design thinking,roles,ecologies |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sarah Kettley
Tel: (0131 6)51 5836
Email: Sarah.Kettley@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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