Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Combining the pedagogical strategies of Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Community Based Learning (CBL), this project blends student practice of design research, creative and iterative design methods with emerging technology within a real-world, civic context. Students create a conceptual design of a smartphone app for city (municipal) service problem reporting targeting the youth demographic. While producing research and creative assets, students examine their designs through various written modes (describe, analyze, compare, critique) deployed as a heuristic along an industry-typical iterative design process. The student experience is one part workshop, one part design research, and one part creative / critical / conceptual thinking. The project’s aim and significance are underscored by the current general disconnectedness between civic responsibility, individual action, and conceptions of public ownership of the built environment—in this instance, the city. This pedagogical case study traces the genesis, development, and subsequent student outcomes from coursework designed to foster a sense of personal civic power and local action in San Francisco. Through careful choreography of hard and soft skills with experiential learning methods, the project offers a synthetic model for design education.