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Unit of study_

DECO2016: Design Thinking

2025 unit information

This unit of study provides an introduction to design thinking and its application in a human-centred design process. Students carry out a semester-long project that follows the typical phases of an iterative design process; consisting of user-centred research, ideation, prototyping and evaluation. Hands-on tutorial exercises develop their experience in appropriately applying design thinking methods, against the theoretical background offered by lectures. Students will learn to build empathy with users, identify the problem space, develop design concepts driven by user needs, and persuasively communicate design proposals using visual storytelling.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning

Study level Undergraduate
Academic unit Design Lab
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
None
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
DECO1006
Assumed knowledge:
? 
None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. appreciate the principles and methodology of human-centred design
  • LO2. engage in research and inquiry to identify the need for a design
  • LO3. show imagination and competence in design ideation
  • LO4. communicate information, ideas and concepts visually
  • LO5. evaluate design ideas and proposals from stakeholder perspectives
  • LO6. reflect upon and critique design proposals from ethical principles

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2025
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 2 2020
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2021
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 2 2021
Normal day Remote
Semester 1 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 1 2022
Normal day Remote
Semester 1 2023
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Semester 1 2023
Normal day Remote

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.

Important enrolment information

Additional advice

Not available to students in the Bachelor of Design Computing and the Bachelor of Architecture and Environments except by special permission. Students who do not successfully complete DECO1006 may take DECO2016 as a replacement.