87009 VC Design Studio: Visualising Experience
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): 87632 VC Design Studio: The Ethics of Image and Text
Description
This subject explores visual communication design in the context of complex informational and technological systems. Students design interactions within these systems that are a response to what they observe in the world through basic design research methods. Through these research methods, students identify and frame relationships among people, environments, and technology and use their findings to drive the production of novel design outcomes.
ln response to a brief, students develop design concepts focused on interactive or responsive applications, objects or environments. lnitially, students are introduced to ways of developing, communicating, and presenting their ideas using visual techniques. This is combined with the delivery of introductions to digital technologies in order to develop students material understanding and their ability to produce prototypes.
Students are then guided through a process of selecting appropriate technical media and prototyping methods to develop an interactive prototype through which they can test, iterate and refine their designs.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Employ primary and secondary research methods including but not limited to observation, the analysis of material culture, library and internet research |
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| 2. | Devise creative designs in response to the specific objectives of a project brief and/or insights from research |
| 3. | Iterate and refine a design concept and outcome through processes of critical reflection, feedback, and prototyping |
| 4. | Develop refined and original visuals through which to communicate design concepts with clarity |
| 5. | Present design processes and outcomes in visual, oral and written forms with thought, care and skill. |
| 6. | Demonstrate a basic understanding of the fundamentals and possibilities of digital technologies covered in the subject material |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Communicate an informed well-researched viewpoint. (C.2)
- Communicate ideas effectively in a variety of ways, including oral, written and visual. (C.3)
- Create designs that respond to their context in formally or conceptually innovative ways. (I.1)
- Advance ideas through an exploratory and iterative design process. (I.2)
- Independent development of high level technical and craft skills for the production, presentation and documentation of work. (I.3)
- Ability to innovatively and critically use a variety of digital technologies. (I.4)
- Independently engage in self-directed learning and select and apply appropriate methodologies specific to the project. (P.4)
- Employ a range of qualitative research approaches including practice-led visual and material exploration and social and participatory methods. (R.2)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
The term CAPRI is used for the five Design, Architecture and Building faculty graduate attribute categories where:
C = communication and groupwork
A = attitudes and values
P = practical and professional
R = research and critique
I = innovation and creativity.
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) are linked to these categories using codes (e.g. C-1, A-3, P-4, etc.).
Teaching and learning strategies
Lectures will orient you to specific visual communication concepts and theories, studio activities and project requirements.
Studio sessions will give you the opportunity to discuss questions about the weekly content with your peers and with an expert studio leader, to collaborate on activities directly relevant to key ideas and to develop your skills as a design practitioner with assistance from your studio leader. Studio sessions will provide you with the opportunity to take ownership of the ideas encountered in preparatory reading, research, and lectures. Your studio leader will facilitate discussion and activities and offer expert insight and direction where needed, but as students you are primarily responsible for the mood of the studio session.
This subject incorporates a PBL (problem based learning) strategy. The focus is on allowing students to engage with practical, experiential models of visual communication design. The design methodology of developing creative responses to project briefs continues to underpin the learning experience. Peer learning groups and learning partnerships are encouraged at this stage for students, as individuals and collaboratively in groups to develop their ability to reflect upon and critically analyse their research and design work in order to experience perceptual change and enact their new understandings in progressive design iterations. Emphasis is placed on developing each student’s confidence in processing and refining ideas.
LECTURE AND STUDIO ETIQUETTE
Lectures and studio sessions provide important opportunities for you interact with your studio leaders and peers. Mobile phone use can be distracting to yourself and those around you. Please limit your use of mobile phones in lectures or studio sessions. You will be given explicit information about situations where use of these technologies might be appropriate.
PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES
After each studio there are activities that need to be completed over the week before your next studio. These activities need to be thoughtfully undertaken in order for you to get the most out of your next studio and receive quality feedback from your studio leader, demonstrator and peers. An overview of activities that need to be completed after a studio can be found in that week's module and studio overview i.e. the Week 1 module has an overview that lists activities that need to be followed up after the studio and completed for the studio in Week 2.
PEER CRITIQUES
Learning to give and receive feedback is essential to your development as a professional designer. In peer feedback sessions you will ask your group to give you feedback on ideas and visuals. Try to sit back and listen. Try not to prompt your peers with information about your intentions. You want feedback from as many different perspectives as possible.
Content (topics)
- creative technologies
- practices of interaction, user and experience design
- complex social, informational and technological systems as a design context
- basic primary and secondary design research methodologies (observation, visual scenarios, mindmapping, propotyping)
- development of design propositions
- visualisation methods for conceptual development and presentation
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Design Concept and Research Folio
| Intent: | For this task, you will be developing an interactive design concept in response to a brief. You will be undertaking research activities to understand the context that the brief asks you to design for in order to develop a 'design outline'* (Fukusawa 2003). This outline will be used to prompt the ideation of an interactive design concept, which you will elaborate and communicate through a storyboard or visual narrative. Submission: The assignment submission will include a 1-3 A3 page visual narrative that communicates your design concept and a process folio that communicates your week-to-week process. Further details can be found in the brief on Canvas and will be delivered in a briefing lecture in Week 1. * This term comes from the Week 1 reading 'Without Thought' by Naoto Fukusawa. For Fukusawa, a 'design outline' does not so much describe the form of a potential design object, but various factors of its future context that a designer can find out such as users, interactions, behaviours, problems and so forth. This outline sets parameters or generates understandings that inform the ideation of the design object. Research to understand context and develop insights is an important part of the design process that can lead to better and more suitable design outcomes, especially in practices of interaction design, service design, user interface design (UI), and user experience design (UX). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): C.2, C.3, I.1, I.3 and R.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Design/drawing/plan/sketch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Experiments Folio
| Intent: | For this task you will undertake material experimentation with augmented and virtual realities, coding for interaction and prototyping software. Submission: For your assessment, you will submit documentation of your experiments for each material experimentation sprint. Further details can be found in the brief on Canvas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 5 and 6 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): C.3 and I.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Portfolio | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 20% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: Prototype and Process Folio
| Intent: | For this task, you will continue to develop and refine your design concept by testing and iterating your design using prototyping methods. You will also create a small design communication of the project. Submission: Further details can be found in the brief on Canvas and will be delivered in a briefing lecture in Week 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): C.2, C.3, I.2, P.4 and R.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Design/drawing/plan/sketch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
The DAB attendance policy requires students to attend no less than 80% of formal teaching sessions (lectures and tutorials) for each class they are enrolled in to remain eligible for assessment.