| Unit name | Design for People |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CADEM0017 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Theo Tryfonas |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
Why is this unit important?
Designing for people is vital because it ensures that products, systems, and services align with human needs.. This is essential for creating more meaningful, accessible and effective engineering systems. In today’s context, engineering solutions must be designed to protect communities from the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events and water scarcity, among others. For example, designing flood-resistant housing or sustainable irrigation systems directly supports affected populations. However, effective solutions require understanding human behaviour to ensure usability and adoption of new modalities (e.g. new forms of transport), as well as for encouraging more sustainable practices. It is also crucial to ensure design takes account of a diverse spectrum of perspectives, as human needs and behaviour varies across cultures, age groups, and abilities. Designing with this diversity in mind ensures that infrastructure, technologies, and services are accessible to everyone, such as wheelchair-friendly transportation systems or user-friendly interfaces for elderly populations.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
Incorporating the learning of key principles of designing for people into an engineering programme enriches students’ education by emphasising the broader purpose of engineering: improving lives and creating a better future. It transforms engineers from problem solvers into problem framers, equipping them to design solutions that are not only innovative but also ethical, sustainable, and deeply connected to human needs. It provides the capacity to create meaningful interfaces with policymaking and decision makers in central and local governments, and to develop policy advisory skills. Knowing about human-centred design as part of an engineering degree ensures that graduates are not just technically competent but also socially responsible and ready to make a meaningful impact.
An overview of content
Foundational Concepts in Human-Centric Design
The Interplay Between Design, Society, and Stakeholders
Methods for Understanding Stakeholder Needs
Contextual Factors in Design
Tools and Processes for Achieving Fitness for Purpose
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Awareness of human-centred, societal and economic issues transforms engineering design from a purely technical exercise into a holistic practice that improves lives, supports communities, and sustains the planet. By integrating these considerations into their practice, engineers create designs that are not only innovative but also meaningful, equitable, and impactful.
Learning Outcomes
Weekly lectures, world café style seminars and workshops, invited talks and a practical component of summative assessment (group project) will ensure students will develop a deep insight of human centred design and its challenges in a variety of engineering contexts and from a multitude of perspectives.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Weekly lectures will help with getting a deeper understanding of the relevant issues and reflect on key readings from recommended texts used in the unit. Weekly seminars and workshops delivered in world-café style will allow students to discuss among their peers the challenges of design in a real-world context, based on frequently provided directed readings. Occasional invited speakers will provide insightful accounts of how the aspects considered in the unit are addressed with in real design practices.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
When assessment does not go to plan
In the case of required reassessment, where the student was unable to complete their contribution to the group project, we would enable the student resitting to undertake further individual development and critique of their group’s original submission, highlighting areas for improvement and development using knowledge and understanding from the taught components. The resubmission components would be as above, but all individual.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. CADEM0017).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
