Undergraduate Course: Product Design: Professional Practice (DESI10143)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will support the reflection and practice of students' professional development within the field of product design. It will leverage students' communication and presentation skills to a professional standard, reflecting impact, contribution and positioning of work within emergent trends in product design. |
| Course description |
This course explores the multiple ways in which designers can position themselves within the discipline. It will extend students' understanding of professional practice, inviting them to critically reflect on boundaries and crossovers of product design with other disciplines, critically framing their work within emergent trends in product design.
The weekly sessions will consist of seminars, workshops and discussions that explore ways of positioning, presenting and disseminating work through formal and informal practices according to different targeted and specialised audiences. These sessions will run between 2-3 hrs each week.
This course will consolidate students' critical view, reflecting on principal areas, features, boundaries, terminology and conventions of current Product Design discourses and practices and crossovers with other disciplines. It will also strengthen individual awareness of personal development goals within product design. In addition, it will encourage exploration of different methods and choice of appropriate media to clearly communicate students' practice to specialised and targeted audiences
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student. |
| Additional Costs | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, 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
(
Lecture Hours 1,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 16,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
175 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course is assessed against a portfolio of work.
The portfolio will demonstrate Professional Practice within the field of Product Design, through weekly reflective blogging (week 1-12 100-200 words per post), summary and communication of a body of work across different formats (i.e. design book (20 A4 pages), online portfolio (minimum 3 projects), exhibition plan), and explore appropriate methods of communication with future employers, clients, and diverse audiences.
The portfolio will be assessed against all 3 Learning Outcomes
LO1 34%, LO2 33%, LO3 33% |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback:
Feedback is regularly communicated verbally through group and individual meetings, where coursework and ideas are discussed with both peers and tutor.
Formative Feedback in week 6-7 will review work in progress portfolio, through drafts of specific elements - including 6 weekly blog posts (week 1-6 - 100-200 words per post), draft online portfolio with 2 projects and overall structure - and provide feedback and feedforward for all Learning Outcomes.
Summative Feedback:
Summative feedback and grades will be provided via Learn VLE as per University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Structure and summarise a body of practice in product design, contextualising it within a specific area of the field, while critically reflecting on their own professional development.
- Propose new ways to communicate their practice through various media and a clear underlying narrative, with a view to targeting particular audiences.
- Analyse and choose appropriate formats and channels to disseminate work according to a particular angle of the design practice.
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Reading List
Airey, David. (2012). Work for money, design for love: answers to the most frequently asked questions about starting and running a successful design business. New Riders.
Burgess-Auburn, Charlotte. (2022) You Need a Manifesto: How to Craft Your Convictions and Put Them to Work (Stanford D. School Library).
Barton, Gem. (2016). Don't get a job, make a job: how to make it as a creative graduate. Laurence King Publishing.
Kelley, Tom., & Kelley, David. (2013). Creative confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. Currency.
Srnicek, Nick. (2017). Platform capitalism. John Wiley & Sons. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop key skills in terms of:
Research and Enquiry: Students will develop the ability to identify and creatively tackle problems, and to seek out opportunities for learning. In turn they will apply that knowledge, to reflect critically on their own practice as a product designer.
Personal and intellectual autonomy: Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate ideas, evidence and experiences from an open-minded and reasoned perspective on Product Design. By structuring their work and contextualising it within an area of product design, choosing appropriate ways to present to specific audiences, students will analyse features, conventions and terminology used by other professionals in related areas.
Personal effectiveness: Students will become effective and proactive individuals within the field of product design, they will be skilled in positively influencing and adapting to new situations with sensitivity and integrity.
Communication: Students will develop ways to enhance their understanding of Product Design and to engage effectively with others. By proposing creative ways to communicate their practice they will demonstrate some originality and creativity when dealing with professional issues within the field of Product Design. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Miss Isla Munro
Tel:
Email: Isla.Munro@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Hollie Gilligan
Tel:
Email: hgilliga@ed.ac.uk |
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