Provides students with advanced technical and conceptual skills in design, and uses digital media as both a production and a creative tool. In the latter stages of the course, students will focus on an advanced design application through the production of a major piece of work that will fuse contemporary studio-based practice and theory with rigorous critical analysis. Students will be introduced to design thinking as a means of exploring ways of investigating and understanding complex challenges, and user-focused methods of generating ideas. Students will be encouraged to view the design process as a collaborative activity that generates innovation through making and prototyping. The course will appeal to non-design related practitioners and graduates who wish to upgrade their practice by including design skills as the means to understand and apply the role of empathy in user-centered innovation. Course Learning Outcomes Apply advanced design research processes and methods to investigate, evaluate, and synthesize complex problems, concepts and theories in inter-disciplinary design projects. Apply communication and collaboration skills to design innovative contributions to inter-disciplinary design practice or scholarship. Reflect critically on advanced design philosophies, principles, methods, and processes, to demonstrate master of inter-disciplinary design practice or scholarship. Use high level self-management skills to initiate, plan, and execute a substantial design project. Employment opportunities Employment opportunities include assisting organizations, companies, and communities to innovate through building empathy, understanding stakeholders' needs, co-creating possibilities with stakeholders, and developing socially, environmentally and financially sustainable solutions. Possible future job titles UX Designer (User Experience Designer), Service Designer, Social Designer, Design Strategist