Design for Health and Wellbeing

This module offers focussed opportunity for students to extend and enhance their practice by including working in a wider design research community. The study of the cultural and critical contexts of design practice is vital to any student of the creative disciplines, this module will develop Master’s students’ abilities to contextualise their practice through a series of themes addressing contemporary issue in design.

Public engagement and co-design is an essential part of designing for health and wellbeing. In order to benefit those people we want to reach, we need to work with them to design innovations and interventions that are appropriate and fit for purpose. The module will build on and deepen the experience of the Design Thinking module, examining in depth concepts of co-design, co-production and co-creation and related practices and approaches to explore how we understand, interact and collaborate with others. During this module, students will establish a community of expertise where new critical and applied solutions emerge through collective research and practice. Transdisciplinary groups work on relevant themes or projects, and links are made with public, health and governmental organizations as well as communities in a variety of relevant settings.

In this module, students will review their learning so far, consider their emerging design philosophical perspectives and creative directions, and explore and propose ideas for their MA project. They will consider examples of existing design areas and approaches to design for wellbeing interventions. Working individually or in project teams, students will discuss creative directions and potential interventions with external partners across Greater Manchester and/or wider international communities of interest. Initial project proposals are advanced and refined through, for example, project planning, professional ethics and expert feedback to test the overall validity and appropriateness of the proposal.

This module introduces an applied understanding of how design can be used as an iterative process for creative problem solving. It will enable you to understand how to apply design thinking processes to your specialist area through understanding users, challenging assumptions, redefining problems and creating innovative solutions to prototype and test. The module will also provide a broad introduction to research methodologies, strategic research planning and research design. A range of design thinking tools will be introduced and explored before you undertake an in-depth project that provides opportunities for experimentation leading to innovative solutions.

In this module, students will bring together their learning experiences to develop their core project. Students will work with relevant local communities and/or stakeholders to offer novel ways of exploring pressing health and social concerns, where Greater Manchester will be an incubator of step-changing research and innovation. Project work is self-generated by the student(s) and is expected to evidence a synthesis of knowledge, understanding, skills and expertise acquired across the duration of the programme. With this module, students will decide whether to study for an MA or an MSc in line with university criteria for MA/MSc study.