| Unit name | Client Led Brief |
|---|---|
| Unit code | INOVM0017 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Ben Hobbs |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Tools and Methods for Innovation |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
NA |
| School/department | Centre for Innovation |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
We learn best through experience, so this is your chance to apply your innovation skills to problem set by a real client drawn from the Centre’s network. Working with our wide network of social, industrial, and commercial partners, we will present student teams with real-life challenges appropriate to your chosen degree specialism to tackle by means of a group project in which you’ll apply your research and design skills to devise a range of solutions. This is a great unit to use to demonstrate your skills and experience.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
You will work in an agile manner in groups to research, prototype, and demonstrate early evidence for proof of concept, for innovative solutions to address your client’s needs.
This will be based on the use of ‘agile development’ which processes foster better collaboration, innovation, and results. Traditionally used solely for software projects, agile development is now recognised as a successful methodology to transform entire innovation business management and processes. This unit will require students to generate and sift through ideas, seek out and create appropriate proof of concepts, and develop robust and flexible methods of working in an iterative, agile, and responsive manner. You’ll be using research and design skills learnt in previous units to practice and extend your skills.
An overview of content
This unit provides core professional methodology and academic knowledge for the practice of agile design work and builds on skills in both Design Thinking (i.e. designing for users) and Systems Thinking (i.e. designing for the context within which users use things). The course touches on Product and Service design and provides a wealth of practical tools and methods for solving problems, developing compelling solutions, working in teams, and working with clients.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will have gained both competence and confidence in agile working, Design Thinking, Systems Thinking and client-handling methods and be able to select and apply them to a range of real and imagined scenarios. You will have further acknowledged and be able to articulate the value of really understanding the problem (from a user and context perspective) before developing solutions. You will be able to reflect on the development of your professional design practice.
Learning Outcomes
By the completion of this unit students should be able to:
1. Respond professionally to a client-set brief by selecting and applying appropriate research and design methods to address the challenge.
2. Conduct user research and collaborative design in an agile and ethical manner.
3. Present a professional-standard client report covering all aspects of their research synopsis, a range of potential solutions, some assessment of their suitability, and their recommended means of adoption.
4. Reflect critically upon their own use of design thinking and systems thinking and the process of working with and for others in exploring and responding to problems in an agile manner.
5. Demonstrate skills in collaborative problem-solving.
Teaching will be focused on interactive studio-style workshop sessions and small-group project work supported by in-person and online lectures. There will be a lot of time given over to group-work, both in the classroom and conducting fieldwork beyond the classroom. This simulates the group-based professional context of design practice and allows for the kind of discussion, debate, and diversity of perspective that really stimulates transformative creative learning.
Teaching and assessment are focused on real-world problems, with real user perspectives gathered through student research, to add to the authenticity of what is being learnt and why.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Teaching on the unit is highly interactive and weekly discussions and project work conducted with both peers and academic staff will help you develop your practice, test your methods and ideas, and hone your professional use of the tools and methods taught. You will also get a series of client meetings in which you can develop your response to their brief and present iterative solutions back to them. Students will be asked to show and tell their peers and staff about their ongoing project work, receiving feedback and constructive critique. There will be opportunities to submit early drafts of both group and individual work for staff feedback.
The Client Report and Reflective Summary assessments are iterations of assessments students have undertaken on the prerequisite unit (and elsewhere if they study Innovation).
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Client Report (group assessment) 60%
3000 words
Reflective Summary (individual assessment) 40%
2000 words
When an assessment does not go to plan
In the case of the individual Reflective Summary a student who was not able to take or pass the assessment at the first attempt would get a fresh attempt to pass the same assessment. In the case of the group Client Report we would enable anyone who was not able to take or pass the assessment at this first attempt an individual assessment in the form of an individual critique of their group’s original Client Report highlighting areas for improvement and development through better use of the taught methods.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. INOVM0017).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
