26819 Strategic Design Studio
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
The subject focuses on developing creative and strategic problem-solving skills. Increasing complexity, technological change and uncertainty make problem-solving one of the most critical professional skills. Strategic Design Studio draws on strategy, design practice, data analytics, start-up methods and organisational transformation. Framed as a strategic consultancy, students work with real clients to investigate a business challenge, create innovative solutions and advise on corporate and entrepreneurial strategies.
Students engage in rigorous research to understand and evaluate customer needs, client resources, capabilities, processes and revenue streams, the competitive environment and relevant trends and technologies. They then rethink strategic choices, identify new opportunities and solutions and assess their impact on the organisation. This subject aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required for examining, designing, testing, improving or redesigning viable businesses. Students gain a practical understanding of strategic decision-making processes underlying the generation and invention of value-generating activities.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| 1. | Research and critically assess different data types to gain in-depth insights into industry, market, economic and competitive conditions and customer or user needs |
|---|---|
| 2. | Critically apply a range of strategy and design tools and techniques to create viable solutions and innovative sustainable business models |
| 3. | Evaluate current and proposed strategies in regard to their social impacts and develop innovative, ethical and sustainable business solutions |
| 4. | Demonstrate responsibility and advanced skills in managing the relationships and dynamics required to drive innovation and communicate outcomes |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the following program learning objectives:
- Synthesise evidence-based judgement, analytical and creative skills to evaluate and solve complex business problems (1.1)
- Integrate complex business concepts and practices with professional integrity to critically evaluate the purpose and management of businesses for transformation and growth (4.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject is designed to integrate and apply knowledge of developing corporate and entrepreneurial strategies and business models. Students learn and apply new knowledge and skills to real business situations, practice critical, analytical and creative thinking and work collaboratively to develop and communicate a solution. Through experiential learning activities and industry embedded creative problem solving, students develop and practice new knowledge and skills.
This subject contributes to the development of the following graduate attribute(s):
- Intellectual rigour and innovative problem solving
- Communication and collaboration
- Social responsibility and cultural awareness
- Professional and technical competence
Teaching and learning strategies
The subject is offered as a combination of weekly evening seminars and check-ins and full-day weekend block classes. It is delivered using a mix of experiential learning through live case studies and a best practice approach, complemented by additional online and blended learning experiences. Students also apply the knowledge acquired in other subjects to the live client engagements to produce evidence-based strategic solutions and actionable business plans. Delivery of teaching and learning materials, seminars and discussions is supported by online learning and communication tools and the UTS learning management system.
The face-to-face classes engage students in group work, discussions and exercises to reflect upon and revise the content. In this highly interactive and dynamic subject, academics and experienced industry project managers guide students. Other business professionals and an advisory council provide expert advice and mentorship. Students work in groups and are required to present their work every week in class and via interim and final client presentations. The subject relies upon productive interaction with a live and often changeable client context so that requirements may change in response to the client(s) or student needs. Students are required to meet their client several times and plan weekly team meetings to advance their projects.
Students receive ongoing verbal and written feedback on a weekly basis from academics and coaches. They receive written and/or verbal feedback from industry experts at different stages. These experts include their client, consultants and an industry advisory board. Feedback on their formal assessment is provided by academics.
Content (topics)
- Research design and methods
- Structured thinking and planning
- Strategic business analysis
- Design thinking
- Systems thinking
- Service design
- Synthesis and sense-making
- Prototyping and testing
- Business models
- Business case development
- Strategy formulation
- Presentation and communication
- Client management
- Team building
- Ethics, integrity and professionalism
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Interim client report and presentation (Group 10% and Individual 30%)*
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2 and 4 This addresses program learning objectives(s): 1.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Up to 30 slides plus Appendix |
| Criteria: | As a group, students will be assessed on the quality of the interim report and presentation (overall group assessment weighting 10%).
Individually, students will be assessed based on the quality of the task or section for which they have responsibility (application of concepts), their initiative and ability to communicate and present to a professional audience (communication), and their contribution to the group work, which will take into account the specific role each group member is allocated, peer feedback and peer assessment. (overall individual assessment weighting 30%).
*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero. |
Assessment task 2: Final client report and presentation (Group 20% and Individual 40%)*
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 3 and 4 This addresses program learning objectives(s): 1.1 and 4.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 60% |
| Length: | Up to 30 slides plus Appendix |
| Criteria: | As a group, students will be assessed on the quality of the recommended strategies and their ability to communicate results via the report and presentation (Group assessment weighting 20%).
Individually, students will be assessed based on their ability to apply concepts, tools and of strategy and innovation, their contribution to the group work, which will take into account the specific role each group member is allocated, peer feedback and peer assessment. (overall individual assessment weighting 40%).
*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero. |
Minimum requirements
Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.
Recommended texts
Garrette, B., Phelps, C., & Sibony, O. (2018). Cracked it!: how to solve big problems and sell solutions like top strategy consultants. Palgrave Macmillan.
Van Der Pijl, P., Solomon, L. K., & Lokitz, J. (2016). How To Design a Better Business: New Tools, Skills, and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. Wiley.
References
Baden-Fuller, C., & Haefliger, S. (2013). Business models and technological innovation. Long range planning, 46(6), 419-426.
Blank, S. (2013). The four steps to the epiphany: successful strategies for products that win. BookBaby.
Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York: Harper Business.
Clegg, S. R., Schweitzer, J., Whittle, A., & Pitelis, C. (2019). Strategy: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications. 3rd Edition.
Croll, A., & Yoskovitz, B. (2013). Lean analytics: Use data to build a better startup faster. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Fleisher, C. S., & Bensoussan, B. E. (2015). Business and competitive analysis: effective application of new and classic methods. FT Press.
Garbuio, M., D. Lovallo, J. Porac, and A. Dong. (2015). A design cognition perspective on strategic option generation. Advances in Strategic Management 32: 437–465.
Garrette, B., Phelps, C., & Sibony, O. (2018). Cracked it! : how to solve big problems and sell solutions like top strategy consultants. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hölzle, K., and H. Rhinow (2019). The dilemmas of design thinking in innovation projects. Project Management Journal 50(4): 418–430
Kimbell, L. (2014). The service innovation handbook: action-oriented creative thinking toolkit for service organizations. BIS publishers.
Knight, E., J. Daymond, and S. Paroutis. (2020). Design-led strategy: How to bring design thinking into the art of strategic management. California Management Review 62(2): 30–53.
Liedtka, J. (2018). Why design thinking works. Harvard Business Review 96: 72–79.
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
Schweitzer J., Groeger L., Sobel L. (2016). The design thinking mindset: An assessment of what we know and what we see in practice. Journal of Design, Business & Society, 2 (1), 71-94.
Seidel, V., and S. Fixson. (2013). Adopting design thinking in novice multidisciplinary teams: The application and limits of design methods and reflexive practices. Journal of Product Innovation Management 30: 19–33.
Stanley, D. & Castles, G. (2017). The so what strategy: introducing classic storylines that answer one of the most uncomfortable questions in business.
Van Der Pijl, P., Solomon, L. K., & Lokitz, J. (2016). How To Design a Better Business: New Tools, Skills, and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. Wiley.
Wrigley, C., E. Nusem and K. Straker. (2020). Implementing Design Thinking: Understanding Organizational Conditions. California Management Review, 62(2): 125-143