DESI

G
N
APPROACH
syllabus 2015
mooc

2015

colophon
This course was
produced, written
& designed by
Jos Hekkens
Jaap Daalhuizen
Jan Schoormans
Annemiek van Boeijen
Koen Schellekens
Iris Jnsthvel

DESIGN

TU Delft 2015

table of content
1. Introduction

2. Course structure

3. Deliverables

1.1 Delft Design Approach

1.2 Delft Design Guide

2.1 Planning
2.2 What to expect each week

3.1 Templates
3.2 How to upload your work
3.3 Share your work
3.4 Assessments

4. Discussion forum

4
5

6
8

9
10
11
11

12

4.1 Guidelines

12

5. Grading and certification

13

6. How to get most out

of this course

14

5.1 Grading
5.2 Certification

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

13
13

1.
introduction
This MOOC introduces you to the Delft
Design Approach: an iterative design
process we use in the Design program
in Delft. During these weeks you will
be introduced to - and be using! techniques and methods that can help
you in creating successful products
people love to use.
Main learning objectives are:
You will understand the basics and
a structure of designing meaningful
products for people.
You will be able to apply relevant
design methods and tools in a
design project; starting from
discovering a design domain and
ending with the delivery of a tested
design concept.
You will be able to communicate
your design process.
You will understand the iterative and
reflective nature of designing.

1.1 Delft Design Approach

This MOOC offers you the opportunity
to gain insight in and training with
a number of signature methods and
tools from the faculty of Industrial
Design Engineering, Delft University of
Technology. The methods and tools that
we offer you - and the way that they
have been integrated in this course - is
particular for the way that we teach
designing in Delft. The program is one
of the oldest, university-level, design
programs in the world, dating back
more than 40 years. We find it important
to share the vision on design and design
education that drives our educational
program forward.
The faculty of Industrial Design
Engineering has a rich tradition in
developing and teaching models and
methods for product and service design.
In this course you have the opportunity
to get introduced to some of the basic
principles that underlie the way we
teach design in Delft and to some of the
key methods and tools that we use to
teach design.

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

1.2 Delft Design Guide

Most of the methods that we use in
our design program in Delft have been
published in the Delft Design Guide.
This guide presents an overview of
models, perspectives and methods used
in the Bachelor and Master curriculum
of the faculty of Industrial Design
Engineering of the Delft University of
Technology.
Some of the reading material for this
course is from the Delft Design Guide
and is available on the course pages as
pdfs in the appropriate weeks. If you are
interested in all of the methods in the
guide you can order the book or ebook
at the publisher or via bookstores. The
guide is also available in Chinese and
Japanese.

Figure 1:
Delft Design Guide,
available in Chinese,
Japanese & English

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

2.
course structure
2.1 Planning
The course is structured along 6 steps
that run over a period of 7 weeks. Each
step will teach you a key element of
the Delft Design Approach, including
relevant methods and/or tools. When
you go through the whole course you
will complete a whole design cycle in 4
main phases: Discover, Define, Design &
Deliver.
Before the course starts, you will get
familiar with the contents and structure
of the course in the welcome section.
Then, we kick of by introducing you
to the way that we advocate Design
in Delft. In this first week, we will also
teach you how to design meaningful
products for people. After that, the
course takes you through the Delft
Design Approach as illustrated in
Figure 2. If you want to advance your
skills even more, we also provide you
with the possibility of doing an extra
assignment: building a prototype for
your final concept!

designing something that meets your

design challenge, to delivering your end
result in a final presentation. This is also
illustrated in the Figure 2.
The course material will be released
each week on Wednesdays. For each
step, you will have the opportunity to
do a design exercise. The deadline for
uploading your assignment is always
on a Tuesday. On these Tuesdays the
system will close uploading possibilities
on 12 am UTC. This UTC time
(Coordinated Universal Time) means
that you need to translate this time
into your local time (In week 7 some
countries will switch from summer
to winter time or vice versa). On edX
we give a 2 week deadline because
of the time differences. After 2 weeks
we close the assignment. We open the
assignments up again for latecomers
in the course. The assignments are then
open until the end of the course.
To get the most out of the course we
advise you to stick to the deadlines we
mention in this syllabus.

In short, during the course, you will

notice that the nature of your work on
the exercises will shift from discovering
the design theme, to defining your own
design challenge within that theme, to
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Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

Discover

Preparation

Define

Week 1

Week 2

Understanding
meaning
in design

Understanding
the context
of use

Released
23 September
Deadline
29 September

Released
30 September
Deadline
6 October

Week 3
Defining
your design
challenge
Released
7 October
Deadline
13 October

Design

Deliver

Week 4

Week 5 & 6

Creating
ideas

Developing
concepts

Released
14 October
Deadline
20 October

Released
21 October
Deadline
3 November

Week 7
Testing with
user &
final presentation
Released
4 November
Deadline
10 November

Extra
Prototyping concept
Figure 2: Course structure

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

2.2 What to expect each week

Each week (or period of two weeks) of
the course has more or less the same
structure. Figure 3 shows what content
you can expect every week and what
kind of activities are expected from you.
Introduction videos
Each week starts with an introduction
video by Dr. Ir. Jaap Daalhuizen. He will
highlight last weeks learning points and
introduce the topic of the new week.
Lecture videos
The topic and related methods and/
or tools are introduced in two or more
videos by the related lecturer. There is a
quiz after each lecture that you can use
to test your knowledge.
Assignment template
For each assignment you can find
instructions that guide you through the
steps. You will also find a downloadable
template (PDF) that you can use to
present your results.
Design assignment
In this course we focus on the design
exercises. We think this is the most
important part of the course. And the
most fun! The exercises build on each
other, so as you go along, they form
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your own design project. The details of

each assignment will be revealed per
week. In most assignments we ask you
to upload a picture or a link to a short
movie or presentation of your work.
Assessment
Every week we will ask you to assess
your results. This will be done via
peer reviewing, self assessments and
checklists. For more see Chapter 3.4.
Benchmark video
For each exercise, there will be a
benchmark video to which you can
compare your own work. You can
use it either before you start with the
assignment as inspiration, or afterwards
for reflection purposes. The benchmark
video shows you how Koen and Iris, two
experienced students from Delft, did
the same exercises, as well as reflections
from a professional designer from
industry. The video is intended to enrich
and deepen your insight into the topic.
Sofa session
After each week, we will post a sofa
session video in which Dr. Ir. Annemiek
van Boeijen discusses intermediate
results and raised questions on the
discussion forum, and in other media.
Each week we will show you some
Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

Figure 2: Course structure

inspiring examples from your peers

or maybe even from you! So please
stick to the advised deadlines for the
assignments!

Course content (input for you)

Work session (your output)

Introduction
video

Video
lecture 1

Quiz

Video
lecture 2

Quiz

Assignment
template

Input for assignment

Design
assignment

Upload & share

work

Reflecting on & discussing your work

Assessment

Benchmark
video

Sofa Session

Figure 3: Weekly content & work

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

3.
deliverables
3.1 Templates
A work template will accompany every
weeks assignment. These templates
will guide you through the steps of the
assignment. You can fill these in on
your computer or use a printed version.
If you use a printed version of the
template, we advise you to use a clear
handwriting, so others can easily read
it. A printed version also allows you to
clarify your thoughts with drawings. This
can help in communicating your ideas;
see Figure 4.

Figure 4: Filled in templates by Koen & Iris

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Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

3.2 How to upload your work

There are multiple ways to upload your
work. Please follow the instructions in
the assignments.
JPEG
In the peer review and self assessment
module you can only upload 1 Jpeg
(and a URL). You can place all your
printed templates next to each other
and make a photo, or use a computer
image tool to cluster your templates
into one image. Make sure all text and
images are clear and readable.
URL
A link or URL can refer to any online
storage facility that gathers your work
(e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft
Onedrive). Make sure that your files are
accessible for your peers and make sure
your work is available during the full
run of the course. Only share formats
that are commonly used (e.g. JPEG, PDF,
Word or PNG).

Youtube or Vimeo) double-check if it

is available for anyone watch. While
making a video make sure if there is
enough light and that you talk clearly.
Worldmap
Sometimes we will also ask you to
place assignment on the worldmap.
This edX feature allows you to see all
contributions from around the world.
You can only upload URLs on the
worldmap.

Copyright
Please only use your own
pictures and ideas or use pictures
with a creative commons license.

Video
You could also make a video of your
templates in which you discuss your
output. If you use this possibility make
sure your video has a maximum length
of 3 minutes. If you place your video
file on an online streamer (for example
Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

11

3.3 Share your work

3.4 Assessments

If you want to get direct feedback from

your peers in an open conversation we
advice you to use the discussion forum.
The discussion forum can be found
on the edX platform (for guidelines
See chapter 5 Discussion forum). On
Facebook we created a closed group
in which you can share your ideas. It is
called: Delft Design Approach Course
2015 A link to this group can be found
on the Delft Design Approach Facebook
page.

Every week we ask you to assess your

work through quizzes, checklists, selfassessment or peer review. In a peer
review you can compare your work with
your fellow participants by uploading
your work in the peer review module.
After uploading your work you have
to evaluate the work of 3 of your peers
before getting feedback on your own
assignment.

Type of assessment

Quiz

Week 1

XX

Week 2

XX

Week 3

XX

In Table 1 you can find when to perform

which assessment.

Checklist

Selfassessment

Peer review

X
X
X

Week 4

XXX

Week 5&6

XXXX

XX

Week 7 + Wrap Up

Final presentation
Table 1: Assessment per week

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Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

4.
discussion forum
4.1 Guidelines
The discussion forum is an important
tool on the edX platform for you
to share and discuss your insights,
exercises and reflections. It allows
you to learn from your peers (and
allows your peers to learn from you).
In this course, an important part of the
learning happens on the discussion
forum. The forum is all about showing
your work to your peers and inviting
them to give feedback. Sharing on the
Discussion Forum will also give us the
possibility to reflect on your work in the
Sofa Sessions.
We stimulate a positive, constructive
atmosphere. Please attend to the rules
provided below to make this course a
pleasant experience for everyone!
Be respectful to your peers. Please,
show respect to your fellow
participants. We encourage debate
and discussion but only when that
is done in a polite and respectful
manner. We do not tolerate rude
behavior, condescending or abusive
words. Instances will be reported
and removed.

Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

Be constructive in your feedback.

Learning in an online community is
about interacting with each other.
When commenting or providing
feedback on work of others
be constructive and whenever
possible provide suggestions for
improvement.
Be sensitive to your peers
background and culture. This is
a global forum with participants
from around the world. This means
that your fellow participants come
from very diverse cultures and
backgrounds. Please be sensitive to
this when discussing your own work
or results of others.
Post appropriate content. Content
that violates the Terms of Service
is not permitted. You may not post
inappropriate (eg. pornographic)
or copyrighted content, advertise
or promote outside products or
organizations, or spam the forums
with repeat content.

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5.
grading and certification
5.1 Grading

5.2 Certification

The assessment of exercises will

together with the quizzes and the final
presentation determine whether you
passed the course or not, see Figure 5.
In total you will be asked to successfully
make 15 short quizzes, 7 assessments
and 1 final presentation. In order
to successfully pass the course we
stimulate you to make all of them.

When you have earned 60% or more

of the total score, you will receive a
certificate. You can see your progress in
the Progress tab on edX.

50%

There is a ID verified option available

for $50,-. Doing the course for fun is
totally fine, but sometimes you need to
complete a course to get a better job
or to include in a college application.
Besides, working towards a verified
certificate has proven to keep students
more motivated. If you want to, you can
change your registration on the site.

30%

Exercises

Quizzes

20%

Final
Presentation
SelfAssesment

30%

10%
Peer review

10%

SelfChecklists
Assesment

Figure 5: Grading versus assessments

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Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

6.
how to get most out of this course
We have designed this course to give
you the opportunity to learn all about
the Delft Design Approach and to apply
what you have learned in a series of
design exercises.
Of course, every participant in this
course has her or his own unique goals
for what they want to get out of it. So,
please spent your time accordingly.
The basic idea is: you will get out of the
course what you put in! If you do the
design exercises and share and discuss
your experiences with your peers, you
will really be able to internalize some of
the design skills that we teach. But that
doesnt mean that you will not get any
value out of simply watching the videos
and doing some follow-up reading
based on our reading tips.
Here are some tips for the most effective
ways to engage with this course.
Get to know your peers! Share your
experiences and exercise results on
the forum. Post your questions on
the forum as well and discuss them
together.
Look at the exercises at the
beginning of each course week
(we release on Wednesdays). That
way you will know what to get out
Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

of the video lectures and additional

reading in relation to the exercises.
Think of the design exercises as
part of a design project in which
you want to design something
valuable for real users rather than
something you turn in for a grade.
To make the design exercises more
focused and close to real life, we
have chosen to work with a design
theme: morning rituals. You might
want to keep in mind that whatever
you are going to design might
actually improve the morning rituals
of people close to you.
If you get stuck during an exercise,
leave it alone for a while. It is very
normal that designers get stuck from
time to time, and the trick is to find
a strategy that gets you going again.
You might want to watch the video
lecture again or skip forward to the
benchmark video to get inspired.
Or you might want to share your
problem on the forum to discuss it
with your peers. They might have
good suggestions to get going
again!
There are no right or wrong
answers in design, but there may
be more or less valuable and/
15

or meaningful ideas. In order to

explain the merits of an idea,
its important to back it up with
evidence from your field work
or with an explanation why your
idea or concept is valuable to its
users. This helps the person giving
the feedback to solidify their
understanding of a concept.
Remember that the best way to
learn how to design is by designing
things yourself. Going through
the iterative process of designing is
what makes your design better and
your design skills sharper. So take
the opportunity to take the methods
and tools that we offer and apply
them in actual design work.

If possible follow this course

together with your colleagues or
other people who you can meet
physically. Experiences from other
online courses show that it is
very motivating to do the course
together.
Have fun! In this course you have
the freedom to choose your own
direction. You have the opportunity
to design something for a challenge
that you formulate yourself and
for a user-group that you choose.
Please dont do things just because
we ask you to. Do them because you
see the value and enjoy creating a
meaningful design!

Give your peers the kind of

constructive feedback that you
would want to receive. Dont just
point out the negative parts of
someones work, but instead provide
suggestions for how he or she
could improve it. Try to both point
out things that are well done and
things that could be improved (and
suggestions for how they might do
that!)

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Delft Design Approach Syllabus 2015

GOOD LUCK DESIGNING!