Data-driven design

Abstract

The datafication and digital transformation of society change design professions on a profound level. With data and machine intelligence being the design material of the future, the masters programme Data-Driven Design, developed at HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, prepares the next generation of designers to handle the challenges and opportunities that come with this new material. Foundation of the programme is the data-driven feedback loop that serves as a model to aid students in their understanding of what data-driven concepts may accomplish. The programme contains a conceptual track, a human track and a technology track, divided over three domains: Designing for a digital society, Designing for humans and Designing for processes. After teaching the programme for two years, identified challenges in the curriculum were of a didactic nature (how to teach a paradigm such as "critical thinking"), a logistic nature (how to maintain flexibility in the curriculum, but not give up on academic and social integration), and of a content nature (how to maintain a strong connection with the practical field by means of guest speakers, but at the same time provide a coherent narrative for the students). The paper outlines the curriculum design in detail and summarizes how developers and staff addressed the above challenges. Specifically, the challenges we encountered in teaching students to work within the paradigm of critical thinking might be instructive.