Design Strategies

The Master of Design (Design Strategies) is directed at people who are established in their careers and wish to deepen and enhance their strategic thinking and methods by integrating design, business, and technology.

The specialism is intended for both design and non-design professionals with solid working experience in or related to the areas of design, such as communication, brand management, production, marketing, engineering or teaching.

Those who are considering becoming entrepreneurs, taking on more responsibility for design-led business development, or translating new technology into designed experiences and practical applications will benefit from this specialism. Design Strategies was rated as one of the World’s Best Design Thinking Programs by BusinessWeek.

Aims

This specialism seeks to locate design strategically in the context of business and technology by exploring best practices as shown in case studies, human-centered explorations to identify previously unrecognised user needs and desires, comparative analyses of business opportunities, successes, and failures, analyses of branding strategies, and with particular attention to the local context of transforming original equipment manufacture (OEM) to original design manufacture (ODM), and finally to own brand management (OBM). The specialism is applicable to both business and nonprofit organisations and extends across local and global issues.

Objectives

This specialism seeks knowledge in design that facilitates the integration of design, technology and business by:

• creating value by design

• applying design to business development

• transforming OEM/ ODM to OBM

• branding products and services for domestic and international markets

• exploring culture differences and issues in local and global contexts

• understanding customers’ needs and goals

Programme structure

Design Strategies has a flexible approach to learning for engaged professionals. Subjects are taught on weekends with most subjects taken in any order after the completion of a selection of core subjects. For example, a typical 3-credit subject requires three weekends spread over a 4–5 week period. Not a studio programme, the purpose of this specialism is academic — to deepen design understanding and integrate design in its business and technological context through reading, thinking, discussing, and writing.

The programme concludes with a report that synthesizes individual experience and interests with programme materials leading to strategic development for an organisation or in the pursuit of social or cultural goals.
Common Core Subjects (compulsory) (4 credits)

• SD5400 Vision and Change (1 credit)
• SD5018 Research and Analysis for Design (3 credits)

Specialism Core Subjects (compulsory) (12 credits)Theory/Method Subjects

• SD5001 Innovation Tools for Strategic Design (3 credits)
• SD5002 Design and Culture: Cultural Identity and Authorship (3 credits)
• SD5163 Managing Value Creation (3 credits)
• SD5302 A Proposition for Design - Vision and Opportunity (3 credits)

Electives (15 credits)

• SD5202 Innovative Products and Services Development (3 credits)
• SD5011 User Oriented Design: Theories, Methods and Applications (3 credits)
• SD5012 Future Contexts for Design (3 credits)
• SD5104 Branding: From Local to Global Strategies (3 credits)
• SD5113 Strategies for Sustainable Product-Service Systems (3 credits)
• SD5014 Consumer as Producer: Critical Trends in Product Development and Consumer Culture (3 credits)

• SD5015 Globalization and Design (3 credits)
• SD5019 Design Criticism and Visual Arguments (3 credits)
• SD5021 Chinese Traditions and the 21st Century (3 credits)
• SD5112 Strategic Design: Regional Case Studies (3 credits)
• SD5201 Collaborative Design and Technology (3 credits)
• SD5215 Introduction to Ergonomics (3 credits)
• AF5340 Finance and Accounting for Design Business (3 credits)
• MM5761 Marketing Management (3 credits)

Electives offered by other specialisms

• SD5502 Information Architecture & Visualization (2 credits)
• SD5507 Graduate Seminar I: Theories in Interaction Design (2 credits)
• SD5508 Graduate Seminar II: Human Computer Interaction (2 credits)
• SD5509 Prototyping and Scripting (3 credits)

Class delivery mode & duration

Normally classes are held during weekends except one core subject and one elective that are delivered on weekday evenings. Each subject requires three weekends spread over 4–5 weeks. Normally it takes 2 years to complete the specialism.

Lecturers

Teaching staff

• Laurent Gutierrez
• Tim Jachna
• Ilpo Koskinen
• Jackie Kwok
• Rémi Leclerc
• Tak Chi Lee
• Benny Ding Leong
• Sylvia Xihui Liu
• Y. Tina Luximon
• Sandy Ng
• Ming Xi Tang

A Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent; and a minimum of two years of professional experience in a design related field is required. Candidates with other tertiary qualifications complemented by substantial relevant professional experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.A complete application includesApplication formEvidence of degree or other qualificationLetter of intentLetters of recommendation (Academic/ Profession)English language competency (minimum score: TOEFL 550 / IELTS 6.0 / iBT 80)Applicants who are native English speakers with qualification from a university where the language of teaching is English are not required to provide such test score.InterviewIn the case of international students, the interview will be conducted via video calls on Skype. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6 TOEFL paper-based test score : 550 TOEFL iBT® test: 80

Financial Aid

Hong Kong residents may receive financial support from the Continuing Education Fund