What is Design Management and Why it is Important?
Design is integral to the success of any organization or business, as it functions both as a process (design as a verb) and product or service (design as a noun). Design management lies at the intersection of design and business, bringing together analytic and creative problem-solving skills. Design management encompasses an understanding of creative problem-solving processes, coupled with the fundamentals of business and design innovation and strategy.
The role of a design manager can vary and even the title design manager will be different depending on the organization. Design managers see opportunities for ways in which design can bolster a business or organization and are able to identify and articulate those within and outside the organization. Design managers are adaptive, flexible, articulate and work on diverse teams and projects. This course will introduce you to the basics of design management and give you the opportunity to apply management processes to various projects throughout the term.
Class format
Intro to Design Management is a 4 credit Hybrid Course, where approximately 40% of the course will take place in a traditional face-to-face classroom and 60% will be delivered online via Canvas. Within the course Canvas site, students will find a variety of materials that complement the face-to-face in class activities. The class will meet twice a week in the classroom for 50 minutes each class session. As a Hybrid course, there is an expectation that students will spend at least four hours online a week for this course or approximately two hours per class hour of classroom time.
Current course outcomes include
• Explain about design management within the context of different design
disciplines and business organizations
• Identify the conditions and experience drivers for design, design
management and design strategy within a given organization or project
• Apply existing design management perspectives and models to the study
of design management
• Analyze how design addresses user needs and plays a key role in shaping
the user’s experience with systems, products and services
• Propose a design management plan for a team project
• Assess needs, requirements, and constraints of design products,
processes, and services in various design management situations
Classroom time will be spent on introducing new projects and activities, bringing in guest speakers and having students interact with one another and make presentations. I want to make “seat” time as interactive (person(s) to person(s)) as possible and plan on creating weekly online “stories” to replace in-class lectures. These stories will give the students an immersion into the material they are reading and learning about in a different way from traditional Powerpoint Lectures. There will be other online course components including weekly online quizzes and a discussion board.
