Product Design: Degree Information

This studio course introduces modes of thinking and practices employed by product designers. Through a series of hands-on projects and research assignments, students use product design methodology to identify and define problems, then develop solutions with real-world applications. Using a variety of materials and techniques, students explore ideation, iteration, model making, and form development. Faculty provides an overview of topics such as ergonomics, sustainable design, user interface/experience design, manufacturing processes, and design in social context.

Designed objects begin with ideas, which have long been visually initiated and communicated through quick, expressive sketches. Subtle changes to the emphasis or quality of line, shape, and/or value can be the difference between a successful takeoff or a failed launch. This course introduces techniques used by product designers that are useful to a broad range of creative professionals. Manual drawing and rendering techniques enable students to effectively and efficiently communicate design ideas, convey context and operation of a product, develop form, iterate, and present design intent. This approach prizes clear, compelling communication intended to represent realistic, manufacturable, three-dimensional objects that do not yet exist, but could!

This course introduces digital visualization techniques employed by product designers. Students will learn to use industry-standard parametric CAD software (Solidworks) and digital rendering (Keyshot, etc.) to create and render three-dimensional models. Exercises will teach students to use the tools to explore form and mechanisms, build physical models and prototypes using digital fabrication techniques, communicate detailed specifications, and create photo-realistic images of a design. No prior CAD experience is required.

Human behavior is at the center of all art, design, and business. This interdisciplinary course combines physical, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of the human animal. Students in this course apply this information to find new ways of expression in their personal work. Throughout the second half of the semester, students test this new knowledge by collaborating with clients on real projects, ranging from product design, to communications, to community and environmental wellness.

Products can be made of just about any material—from textiles to ceramics to circuit boards—so product designers have developed numerous techniques for making physical models and prototypes to develop, test, and communicate their ideas. Students will learn these techniques—and when to deploy which ones—as they design a series of simple, everyday products. Using the models and prototypes they build, students evaluate their design solutions on the basis of function, performance, mechanical feasibility, appearance, usability, and context-appropriateness.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, the products around us cause emotional reactions and confer the character of a place. This studio is focused on determining and creating appropriate forms for a given context and intended expressive attributes. Projects will include a mix of abstract form studies and real-world products, such as tableware, home decor, personal accessories, lighting, etc., in which appearance is a primary consideration. Assignments will focus on developing appropriate expressive qualities, techniques for form generation and development, iterative refinement of form, appearance models, and attractive presentation of work. Students will integrate new sketching, model-making, and prototyping materials and techniques. 

The phrase “human-centered design” gets a lot of play in the design world, but often that “human” is an abstract, functional unit: a consumer, a user, a person who has an experience. Actual humans have actual bodies that come in all shapes and sizes. This studio course is about designing non-apparel products that require significant and prolonged physical interaction with users’ bodies, and addresses topics including ergonomics, anthropometry, universal design, body-fit, and fashion.

How are today’s environmental, social, and economic demands conditioning and shaping today’s product design mindset? With a component of readings/discussions and a small component of prototyping different ideas into 3D sketches, students will generate their own questions and individual perspectives on materiality in the context of socially responsible product design. The course will have an emphasis on ecological sustainability, and will provide an overview of various sustainability frameworks in the context of product design. Systems thinking and product life cycles are presented as the basis for product, industry, and social innovation. Students explore big-picture philosophical questions and ethical concerns through specific designed objects.

In spite of the many products, services, and experiences now provided via digital devices, product designers still require fundamental knowledge of tangible materials and the means to shape them. From raw materials to finished products, students will learn to identify and understand the materials and processes used to make familiar products. The manufacturing portion introduces students to the materials and processes used in mass production. In particular, the course will focus on how to design for each material and manufacturing processes (design for manufacturability). This course discusses sustainability, defined as the economic, ecological, social, and political impacts of their production, processing, use, transportation, and disposal. The class includes field trips to local manufacturers and independent research.

This studio is about designing for an unfamiliar context or user. Assignments will include products in which meaning/identity/cultural context is a primary consideration. Students will be required to conduct design research into a user group with which they have no prior experience. This might mean designing products for users from a culture, spiritual practice, subculture, gender identity, socioeconomic, physical or cognitive ability status other than their own, or an industry or class of products with which the student is completely unfamiliar. Emphasis is on developing design solutions that reflect an appropriate awareness of cultural context and empathy for an unfamiliar user while avoiding unconscious bias, stereotypes, and cultural insensitivity. Students will work with “clients” from the unfamiliar user group to evaluate and develop their design solutions via sketches, models, and prototypes.

This studio course advances the skills and principles from Digital Visualization and introduces students to advanced 3D modeling, rendering, and presentation techniques employed by product designers. Through a series of exercises, students will learn the advanced use of parametric CAD software (Solidworks) and digital rendering (Keyshot, etc.) to communicate design ideas to peers, clients, and consumers.Outcomes:Demonstrate proficiency in solid and surface modeling techniques, rendering, animation, and mechanical design in Solidworks.Demonstrate written communication through technical documentation to convey design intent to professional standards.Quantify estimated cost, ecological impact, and other product considerations through simulated mass, volume, and material properties.Apply industry best practices for model-building, file management, and documentation.Apply parametric controls to automatically create families of related products and manage configurations.

Students work with external clients to develop and respond to a project brief describing a complex challenge that is strongly conditioned by its context (commercial, social, civic, environmental, etc.). The main premise is to have an overview of the complexity of operating in broad contexts of systems and flows that condition how to bring impactful products to mass markets. In developing a working understanding of the role of the product designer in systems-driven, market ecosystems, students are encouraged to think critically about the role of the designer in the multi-disciplinary contexts in which products are developed. Students will continue to learn and integrate new sketching, model-making, and prototyping materials and techniques.

How do we get from where we are now to where we want to be in five or ten or 30 years? This course introduces the strategic side of product design. It explains product innovation and product strategy broadly, and provides an overview of the professional roles that product managers, product executives, entrepreneurs, etc. play in organizations committed to the design, development, and commercialization of innovative products. Students will become familiar with strategic foresight, product roadmaps, and other frameworks for product development and differentiation.

Product Design Senior Project consists of two sequential studios. It is the culmination of the program and a requisite for graduation. Each student works with a departmental advisor and a number of in-house or external advisors to develop a project resulting from a self-generated investigation. Results are broad and far-ranging, from products to furniture, services, culture-driven explorations, products for social impact, etc. This is an independent endeavor to demonstrate that students have acquired the fluency necessary to join the professional world of product design. The emphasis during this first semester is on research and ideation to develop an original and innovative solution to a real-world problem.

This studio is the continuation of Product Design Senior Project 1. Although the structure of this studio is similar to Senior Project 1, the emphasis in this course is in iterative development the design concept, through the use, testing, and revision of sketches, models, and prototypes. Students will research and make a compelling case for the strategic, economic, social, and environmental appropriateness of their design solutions, culminating in a fully-staged senior exhibition.