Course syllabus

IMS035 Project industrial design engineering

Study periods 1&2 2020, 15 credits

Department of Industrial and Materials Science

Division of Design and Human Factors

Examiner: Bijan Aryana

bijan@chalmers.se

Permanent Zoom space for all sessions: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/65182396589

Introduction

The course focuses on integrating and expanding previously learned knowledge and skills in a practical development project. This means that the student will have both freedom and responsibility to plan and focus on both project and learning. Students are expected to extract relevant knowledge from previous courses, identify and add missing pieces, and apply these together in the planning, execution and communication of the project. As a part of this, the course will support reflection on progress and learning, as well as guide the student to develop their own approach to design through individual work. 

The lectures in the course will support the main project and cover areas such as systems theory and research-through-design to open up the understanding for the design space; company preconditions and marketing communication to effectively collaborate with a client; as well as compromising and prioritising to increase capability to deal with complex design problems.

The solutions can cover a wide range of designs including but not limited to systems, products, services, processes, visualisations, and experiences.

Aim and learning outcomes

The aim of this course is that students should integrate and further develop the knowledge and skills gained within their previous education. Within a systems approach, they should learn to handle the uncertainty and complexity associated with industrial design engineering problems in a real-life setting, as well as reflect on current and continuous learning in the future.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to):

• Define and re-frame a design problem and draw the relevant system boundaries
• Understand the characteristics of the stakeholder organisation, including its internal possibilities and external restrictions, and how these affect a development project
• Individually handle a design problem and develop confidence in their own capability
• Adapt the design process (including choice of approach, theory, and methods) to the problem 
• Balance multiple and contradictory requirements from different focus areas, such as technical, ergonomic, communicative, and aesthetic requirements, in a way that leads to a sustainable and ethical solution 
• Handle compromises and conflicting demands that arise during group cooperation 
• Use situation- and audience-adapted forms of communication with external stakeholders 
• Reflect on your own professional progress and identify needs and strategies for future learning

Organisation

The course centres around a development project, typically run in collaboration with an external stakeholder. The project is carried out in a group, but with individual problem areas. Support is given throughout, both in peer-to-peer supervision groups and with expert consultancies. Furthermore the course includes a lecture series with contents that support the project, and individual reflection assignments.

In study period one, the course is focused on developing a theoretical foundation for the project, as well as giving freedom to participants to explore the problem and define a clear design brief. Therefore, this period mainly includes lectures, seminars and activities. In contrast, the second study period includes supervised individual and group project work. 

Sensitive information, intellectual property and patent issues

Sometimes the project teams will have to handle sensitive information in order to carry out their tasks. It also occurs that the project work results in patent-able inventions. Unless you sign any contracts with the companies

you will have full rights to the results you produce for your student team. Each student has the responsibility of not distributing received information or results to third parties. In addition, it is possible for an involved company to ask students to sign a secrecy agreement. Note that such an agreement may consider sensitive information received from the company as well as results produced by the student team. Be aware of contracts that make you give up the right to the results, including presenting them, produced by the team. 

To give you the best possible opportunity to benefit from and spread your results, Chalmers has guidelines that apply to co-operation between industry and the university. Normally, questions about intellectual property rights and secrecy are best managed by discussions between the project team, supervisor and company. If you need assistance in a more formal sense your supervisor and examiner will be able to support you.

The written assignments produced by each team are not published and thus are not open to the public unless agreed upon by the author and the involved company, but are to be considered an official document. Thus, it may be subject to external review if someone explicitly requests to see it. If the written assignment contains information received from organisations, such information may be considered confidential if within the prerequisites of the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act. This legislation protects the business interests of companies and organisations in collaboration with the university. The document should be marked as “secret” or “confidential” to facilitate the handling.

The oral presentations are in practice public events, which means that sensitive information should be avoided. In case there are patent-able inventions, it is necessary to submit a patent application before the presentation or mask the particular invention. In some cases, private presentations can be planned. As a general rule, patent opportunities and intentions regarding the student’s results shall always be discussed and agreed with the company in advance.

Teaching team

Name	Role in the course	Email
Bijan Aryana	Course examiner, tutor and supervisor	bijan@chalmers.se
Antonio Cobaleda Cordero	Tutor and organizer	cobaleda@chalmers.se
Siw Eriksson	Tutor and organizer	esiw@chalmers.se
Ralf Rosenberg	Co-supervisor	ralf@designkonsulterna.se
Cecilia Berlin	Guest Lecturer (qualitative data analysis)	cecilia.berlin@chalmers.se
Lars-Ola Bligård	Guest Lecturer (systems thinking)	lars-ola.bligard@chalmers.se

Examination and grading 

The course is graded: fail, 3, 4 or 5. The grade will be based on four assignments including three individual and one group assignments. Attendance at peer-to-peer supervision groups and expert consultancies is compulsory. 

Total points of all assignments is 100. The final grade will be calculated based on points using following guide:

80-100: 5, 65-79: 4 , 55-64: 3

The assignments and their share of the overall mark are as follows:

A1: Story of the perfect day

https://chalmers.instructure.com/courses/10110/assignments/24863?module_item_id=114533 

Presentation - Individual assignment, 20 points

Deadline: 12 Oct 20 or 15 Oct 20

Format:

- 5 min individual presentation

- No limitations in format: e.g. role playing, story-boarding, multimedia, conventional presentation

Description:

After gaining a clear understanding of the problem, you will share your story of the “perfect day” in which the identified problem has been solved. This assignment helps you to present your ideas for a wide range of audiences coming from different disciplinary backgrounds using a non-technical language.

Telling the story of the perfect day assists you to envision the problem and solution in a holistic way as ordinary users often do. Individual stories also help you as a team to understand which aspects of the problem will be addressed by whom. This is an individual assignment so the preferred approach for this assignment (and also A2) is to think about breaking down the design brief into smaller pieces. Then each member of the team can be responsible for that piece and present it in A1 and A2.

Assessment is based on clarity of the story for the public, the quality of the presentation itself (effective use of visuals, information flow, etc.), and meaningful connections between the story and previous activities including user research, value proposition, and self reflection. 

A2: My solution

https://chalmers.instructure.com/courses/10110/assignments/25613?module_item_id=127670 

Report - Individual assignment, 40 points

Deadline: 20 Nov 2020

Format:

- Digital submission PDF

- “Maximum” 2000 words

- Flexible layout and format

- Effective use of visuals expected

- External multimedia content via link in the PDF file (optional)

Description:

Use the contents of your individual presentation to develop a more detailed report in which you have more space to explain your design approach and your vision for developing a solution. Some of the contents that can be included in the report are as follows:

- Your design approach 

- Your insights from user research

- Your individual re-framed problem

- A detailed presentation of your individual  "story of the perfect day"  according to the feedback from A1.

Feel free to have your own headings and outlines, the above list only shows the required content.

In some projects, some of the above contents may not be applicable. It is not a problem, you only need to discuss it with your supervisor. Remember that each project is unique. 

A3: Our Solution

https://chalmers.instructure.com/courses/10110/assignments/28442?module_item_id=133909 

Report- Group assignment, pass or fail.

Deadline: 31 Dec 2020

Format:

-Pass/fail assignment, not calculated at the final mark, but must be passed for completion of the course.

- Digital submission PDF

- “Maximum” 4000 words

- Flexible layout and format

- Effective use of visuals expected

- External multimedia content via link in the PDF file (optional)

- Complementary in-house presentation for the company, details such as venue date and format to be arranged according to the company requirements. 

Description:

This report can include:

- Executive summary

- A clear description of the problem and its context

- Summary of research conducted

- Summary of preliminary design solutions (individual designs)

- Explanation of the way these solutions are used to develop the final design outcome

- Evidence and data from prototyping and testing

- Clear presentation of the final design

Please note that you are free to have your own headings and outline, the above list only shows the required contents. In some projects some of the above contents may not be applicable. This is not a problem and you can discuss it with your supervisor.

As a prerequisite of grading, you must arrange an in-house presentation for the company according to their requirements. You need to inform the examiner about the arrangements of the presentation by the deadline of A3, but the presentation itself can take place before or after the deadline. The contents of the in-house presentation are not going to be assessed. It is an opportunity for you to receive professional feedback from the company. 

For assessment, the teaching team will particularly look at:

1. Addressing the initial brief (and clear explanation of any changes in brief through the way)

2. Logic and information flow: can one see a clear relationship between research, decisions, and design outcomes?

3. Clarity and presentation including effective written and visual communication

A4: Travelogue

https://chalmers.instructure.com/courses/10110/assignments/28725?module_item_id=135067 

Presentation and info-graphic - Individual assignment, 40 points

Deadline:  11 Jan 21 or 14 Jan 21

Format: 

- 5 min individual presentation and one page PDF info-graphic 

- No limitations in format for the presentation and info-graphic

Description:

This assignment has two attributes with the same weight. An individual presentation and a one page (individual) info-graphic. 

In the presentation and info-graphic, try to look at your learning and practice journey from various perspectives and talk about your experience, examples include but are not limited to: 

• What you learned
• What you did, what you would like to do in similar situations in the future
• Possible improvements in the learning process, suggestions for improving processes and tools

It is recommended to use the outcome of the reflection activity (beginning of the semester). 

Since the individual presentation is only 5 minutes long, you will have more space to communicate details in a one page infographic. This is going to be a digital submission in PDF format and there is no limitation in terms of layout, size and resolution. If you reflect on many aspects of your work, it's advisable to focus on two or three in the presentation and leave the rest to the infographic. If you want to improve your visual communication, the following reference is available in ebook format from Chalmer Library:

Krum, Randy. Cool Infographics : Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/chalmers/detail.action?docID=1566515.

In the assessment we will look at

• The diversity of aspects you addressed in your reflection
• Clear suggestions for action according to the reflection
• Clarity of your oral and graphic presentations

Special circumstances due to the pandemic

We experience a unique and challenging situation due to the pandemic. As a result, the course delivery format is adjusted as follows:

• Guest lectures, discussions, presentations, and peer review sessions will be held online via Zoom. 
• Lectures by the teaching team will be recorded and shared on Canvas. There will be dedicated Zoom meetings for each group in which you can ask questions and review related activities and milestones. These meetings happen on the course dedicated time-slots on Mondays and Thursdays which can be seen on Schema . Detailed schedule will be shared prior to each session.   It is important to review lectures and complete lecture activities before attending these online group discussions. Remember that attending group discussions, guest lectures, peer review sessions, and presentations are compulsory. Zoom automatically will take record of who attended a session, so please use your Chalmers account to attend sessions.
• We need to work together to run the course as smoothly as possible, therefore it is essential that you always contact the teaching team when you feel things are not working properly. We are always open to your comments so please do not hesitate to share your concerns with us. 
• For some supervision meetings where online meetings do not work we may think about in-person meetings. This should be informed to the course examiner for a risk assessment prior to the meeting. 
• It is important to discuss the activities outside the campus that cannot be done online with your supervisor to avoid any risk.
• Remember that companies also have their own policies and restrictions. You may also have limitations in accessing users. 
• IMPORTANT: if you belong to a Covid-19 at-risk group you should not do anything in person during the course. You also need to inform the course examiner about this. Read more about risk groups here: https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden/communicable-disease-control/covid-19/

Rules or guidelines? 

Project IDE has a unique nature as you need to tailor your activities to a particular project. As a result, milestones and assignments’ contents in this syllabus are “guidelines” and not “rules” since for some projects there is a need for altering these guidelines. Your supervisor will help you in such cases. 

Project costs

The basic principle is that students do not have to pay for activities or resources needed for completing the project such as prototyping and participant recruitment. However, agreements between Chalmers and companies involved in the course may vary for each project, so cost allocations and the way costs will be administered are not exactly the same for all projects. Sometimes, you can directly use Chalmers internal resources instead of purchasing a service or product. Ask your supervisor before paying for anything related to the project to make sure that it can be covered by the budget, otherwise reimbursement may not be possible. 

Personal circumstances which may affect your performance

If your physical or mental health may affect your performance during the course, it is important to inform the course examiner as soon as possible and plan ahead. The same principle applies to functional variations (formerly called disabilities). Even some invisible and minor functional variations may affect your performance in certain types of assessments, therefore it is essential to inform such issues to the course examiner early in the course. Remember that the course examiner can suggest a different assessment format which suits your functional variation. 

Schedule

Notes:

• There might be minor changes in the plan in order to facilitate the progress of your projects and to overcome unexpected challenges. Such changes, if they happen, will be informed by email prior to the event.
• Based on NDA requirements of projects, some presentations are only open to members of the group working on the project, and some others are open to everyone. 
• It is your responsibility to arrange meetings with supervisors and company reps. In case of any difficulties to do so please contact Bijan ( bijan@chalmers.se ).

SP1

Week 36

Monday 31 August 2020

13:15 -16:00 Intro to the course 

Thursday 3 Sep 2020

Please check the recorded lecture on Reflection before attending the session

09:00 - 11:45: Group discussions on Zoom: applying a reflective approach in the project. The schedule will be shared on Canvas.

Milestones: 

• Have a clear idea of what you can do at this point in your professional journey
• Start self-documenting your activities. This will be used in your A4 reflective assignment

Week 37

Monday 7 Sep 2020

Please check the resources on the value proposition and make initial contact with the companies before the session.

13:15- 16:00: group discussions on value proposition and kick-starting the project. The schedule will be shared on Canvas.

Thursday 10 Sep 2020

Please check the resources on project management before the online session.

09:00 -11:45: Group discussion on identifying project management approaches and tools

Milestones: 

• Communication channels to be established. 
• Gaining an overall understanding of the client’s intended added value
• Ask companies about the possibility of accessing users in SP1

Week 38

Monday 14 Sep 2020

13:15-16:00: Qualitative Data Analysis

Thursday 17 Sep 2020 

09:00 - 11:45: Systems Thinking

Milestones: 

• Plan and initiate your user study.
• Think about the way that you can benefit from qualitative analysis and systems thinking in your work.

Week 39

User research in progress 

Supervisory meetings by appointment

Milestones: 

User research should be started this week.

Week 40

Monday 28 Sep 2020

13:00 -15:00: Compulsory group presentations on results of user studies so far.  Time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday.

Thursday 1 Oct 2020

09:30 - 11:30: Compulsory group presentations on results of user studies so far. Time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday)

Milestones: 

Have a clear idea about the use of context, and also ideas for further in-depth user studies if needed.

Week 41

Monday 5 Oct 2020

Please see the recorded lectures on Design Thinking before the online session.

13:15 -16:00: Group discussion on using design thinking as a business development tool. Schedule will be shared on Canvas

Thursday 8 Oct 2020 

Please see the recorded lecture on Action Research before the online session.

09:00 - 11:45: Group discussions on applying action research in your  work, as well as other issues related to the progress of your project. The schedule will be shared on Canvas.

Milestones: 

• Make sure you are solving the right problem, which is not always the same as the client’s initial brief!
• Identifying the best role of design.

Week 42

Monday 12 Oct 2020

13:15 -17:00: A1 Individual Presentations: What will the “perfect day” look like? Individual time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday. 

Thursday 15 Oct 2020

08:00 -11:45: A1 Individual Presentations: What will the “perfect day” look like. Individual time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday.

Milestones: 

• Having a clear vision of what you will achieve after solving the right problem
• Presenting A1: The Perfect Day

Week 43

Monday 19 Oct 2020

13:15 -16:00: What's next : an overview of the rest of the process, and what is expected to be done. You need to identify responsibilities, each member should address one aspect of the problem, also tell us how you will collaborate to combine these solutions in order to present a final solution.  Schedule will be shared on Canvas.

Thursday 22 Oct 2020

Self study

Milestones: 

Having a clear plan for solving the problem on both individual and group levels

Week 44

Supervisory meetings

SP2

Week 45

Supervisory meetings

Milestones: 

• Think about possible methods for testing and evaluation
• Other milestones to be defined based on each project’s preferences - Attach to your plan from SP1

Notes:

Measures for test and evaluation should be defined based on what you have done in the past including, but not limited to value proposition canvas and your re-framed brief.

Week 46

Supervisory meetings

Week 47

Monday 16 Nov 2020

13:15 -17:00: Peer review: bring your design solution to class and give/ receive feedback to/ from your peers. Time slots will be assigned on Monday and Thursday

Thursday 19 Nov 2020

08:00-11:45: Peer review: bring your design solution to class and give/ receive feedback to/ from your peers. Time slots will be assigned on Monday and Thursday.

Milestones: 

A2 Submission: My Design

Week 48

Supervisory meetings

Week 49

Supervisory meetings

Milestones: 

It is preferred to have a clearly defined design at this point so the remaining time could be spent on presenting your design.

Week 50

Supervisory meetings

Milestones: 

• Finalising the design

Week 51

Submitting A3 assignment and arranging an in-house presentation for the company

Milestones: 

• You need to arrange an in-house presentation for the company and update the course examiner regarding that. The requirements, date and venue of the presentations will be decided upon agreement between the team and the company. 
• A3 “Our Solution” to be submitted.

Week 2 (2020)

Monday 11 Jan 2021

13:15 -17:00: A4 Individual Presentations: Travelodge, a reflection on your journey. Individual time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday. 

Thursday 14 Jan 2021

08:00 -11:45: A4 Individual Presentations: Travelodge, a reflection on your journey. Individual time slots will be assigned on Monday or Thursday. 

Milestones: 

• A4 Travelogue to be presented. 
• A one page info-graphic in PDF format representing the core contents of the presentation to be submitted.

The relation between learning goals, teaching elements, and examination

The relation between learning goals, teaching elements, and examination is provided in the following table.

 

	Teaching element					Examination element
Learning goal	Lectures	Workshops	Seminars / Presentation	Supervisory meetings / tutorials	Project work	Individual presentation A1	Individual report  A2	Group report A3	Individual Reflective Report A4
Define a design problem from a systems perspective and draw the relevant system boundaries	x	x	x	x		x	x
Understand the characteristics of the stakeholder organisation, including its internal possibilities and external restrictions, and how these affect a development project			x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Individually handle a design problem and develop confidence in their own capability	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x
Adapt the design process, including choice of approach, theory, and methods, to the problem and focus at hand		x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Balance multiple and contradictory requirements from different focus areas, such as technical, ergonomic, communicative, and aesthetic requirements, in a way that leads to a sustainable and ethical solution	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Handle compromises and conflicting demands that arise during group cooperation	x	x		x	x			x
Use situation- and audience-adapted forms of communication with external stakeholders			x	x	x	x	x	x
Reflect on your own professional progress and identify needs and strategies for future learning	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		x

Modifications compared to the course in 2019

• Both formative and summative assignments  are modified in terms of format and descriptions to increase clarity
• Due to the pandemic most components of the course, including lectures and group discussions will be delivered online.

Course Literature

Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard business review, 86(6), 84.

Burns, D. (2013). Systemic action research: Changing system dynamics to support sustainable change. Action Research, 12(1), 3-18.

Checkland, P. (1999). Systems thinking. Rethinking management information systems, 45-56.

Cross, N. (2011). Design thinking: Understanding how designers think and work. Berg.

Engeström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. Perspectives on activity theory, 19(38).

Gharajedaghi, J. (2011). Systems thinking: Managing chaos and complexity: A platform for designing business architecture. Elsevier.

Hands, D. (2017). Design Management: The Essential Handbook. Kogan Page Publishers.

Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (2005). Participatory action research: Communicative action and the public sphere. Sage Publications Ltd.

Kimbell, L. (2011). Rethinking design thinking: Part I. Design and Culture, 3(3), 285-306.

Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redstrom, J., & Wensveen, S. (2013). Design research through practice: From the lab, field, and showroom. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 56(3), 262-263.

Lawson, B. (2006). How designers think. Routledge.

Loch, C., & Kavadias, S. (2008). Handbook of new product development management. Routledge.

Manzini, E. (2015). Design, when everybody designs: An introduction to design for social innovation. MIT Press.

Nardi, B. A. (1996). Activity theory and human-computer interaction. Context and consciousness: Activity theory and human-computer interaction, 436, 7-16.

Poggenpohl, S. H., & Satō, K. (Eds.). (2009). Design integrations: research and collaboration. Intellect Books.

Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Routledge.

Simon, H. A. (1996). The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press Books, 1.