Stevens Institute of Technology
Howe School of Technology Management
Syllabus
EMT 696
Human-Centered Design Thinking
Semester: 2014
Peter Koen
Babbio 404
Tel: 201-216-5406
Fax: 201-216-5385
pkoen@stevens.edu
Office Hours:
Thursdays 5:00 and 6:00 pm
and by appointment
Course Room:
Course Description
This course deals with the theory and methods associated with design thinking, a
problem-solving protocol that spurs innovation and solves complex problems. Design
thinking involves a unique form of inquiry which goes well beyond product and service
design. Students will develop an appreciation for design and develop skills for studying
design systems. These concepts and methods have wide applicability as they can be used
to design organizations of people, information structures, compensation systems as well
as the entire consumer experience. Applying these approaches can often create entirely
new systems that are more useful and usable. The logic of this approach can sometimes
solve “wicked problems” which have defied previous solutions.
Prerequisites: None
Course Objectives
EMT 696 is part of a 2-course sequence encompassing Innovation – Creativity& Design
which is one of the six strategic themes encompassing the MSTM program.


Strategy – Business & Technology
Global Business & Markets



Functional Business Management

Leadership & Teaming
Innovation - Creativity & Design
Thinking
Integrated Business Simulation
These distinct knowledge areas are linked together by common educational threads
resulting in a comprehensive integrated program.
The objectives of this course involve teaching students to
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1. Become “Design Thinkers”
Design thinking is considered the ability to combine empathy within the context of a
problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality to analyze
and fit solutions to the context. This course provides methods, tools and processes which
will enable the students to evaluate problems from a Human Centered Design
perspective, i.e., become design thinkers.
2. Understand how to uncover unarticulated customer needs
Being able to empathize is the foundation of the course. It involves defining the problem
with the consumer at the center which means observing users in their own habitat,
engaging and interacting with them and experiencing what the user experiences. This
course will provide methods and tools for doing user research which the student can use
to uncover needs that the user may or may not be aware of, supported by a deep
understanding of the customer and consumer.
3. Develop competence/ confidence in the design thinking model by using it to solve a
real design problem in their company.
The students will be guided through each step of the design model through both
individual and project assignments in order to develop competence in the key skills. The
final project will test the student’s ability to solve a real problem for their company.
Additional learning objectives includes the development of:
Analytical Problem Solving Skills: Students learn a design-thinking methodology
which will enable them to develop and solve transformational and disruptive innovations.
Course Outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to
1. Critically discuss potential design methodologies for a given problem setting,
2. Obtain information about users and activities through observation and systematic
inquiry,
3. Employ various design methods (i.e. storyboarding, sketching, usability evaluation,
scenarios, etc.) to identify a solution.
4. Engage customers and their respective teams in effective collaborative problem solving
and communication using methodologies low and high fidelity prototyping.
5. Develop personas that can be used to help articulate the segments interested in both the
solution and the problem.
6. Perform a usability evaluation of suggested solutions.
7. Tell the story underlying the methodology and the solution using a video platform.
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Pedagogy
The course integrates lectures, case analysis, team projects and discussions to focus on
the implications of social science concepts for marketing strategy.
Readings
1. Buxton, B. (2007) Sketching User Experiences: Getting the design right and the right
design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
2. Moggridge, B. (2010) Designing Interactions. Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press.
3. Cooper, A., Reimann, R., and Cronin, D. (2007) About Face 3. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley
Publishing
4. IDEO (2003) IDEO Method Cards: 51 Ways to Inspire Design. William Stout
Architectural Books, San Francisco.
5. Spiral bound sketchbook with blank pages.
6. Roam, Dan. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Ideas with Pictures,
Portfolio, 2009. RECOMMENDED.
Assignments
Class participation
:10%
Reading reflections :10%
Sketching Assignment:10%
Individual
:15%
Final Project
:55%
Final Project: The final project will consist of a report and video of the design project
which the student teams have been working on. This report should include a video story
and discuss the feedback which you have obtained from at least 4 users and your
stakeholder. The written report should contain:
 A clear description of the design problem. What problem did you set out to solve?
Explain your POV.
 A clear description of the project scope. What parts of the design did you focus on
specifying? What parts of the design are left unspecified? This will help the
reader know how well you achieved your goals.
 Who the target audience. Here you can discuss the personas that you developed.
 User tests and stakeholder feedback. The user tests you performed and feedback
should be included in your report.
 Impact and Significance. Overall does your solution solve the design problem you
envisioned? What works well and equally what issues remain unaddressed.
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Ethical Conduct
The following statement is printed in the Stevens Graduate Catalog and applies to all students
taking Stevens courses, on and off campus.
“Cheating during in-class tests or take-home examinations or homework is, of course, illegal and
immoral. A Graduate Academic Evaluation Board exists to investigate academic improprieties,
conduct hearings, and determine any necessary actions. The term ‘academic impropriety’ is
meant to include, but is not limited to, cheating on homework, during in-class or take home
examinations and plagiarism.“
Consequences of academic impropriety are severe, ranging from receiving an “F” in a course, to a
warning from the Dean of the Graduate School, which becomes a part of the permanent student
record, to expulsion.
Reference:
The Graduate Student Handbook, Academic Year 2003-2004 Stevens
Institute of Technology, page 10.
Consistent with the above statements, all homework exercises, tests and exams that are
designated as individual assignments MUST contain the following signed statement before they
can be accepted for grading.
____________________________________________________________________
I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this
assignment/examination. I further pledge that I have not copied any material from a book, article,
the Internet or any other source except where I have expressly cited the source.
Signature _________________________
Date: _____________
Please note that assignments in this class may be submitted to www.turnitin.com, a web-based
anti-plagiarism system, for an evaluation of their originality.
Course/Teacher Evaluation
Continuous improvement can only occur with feedback based on comprehensive and appropriate
surveys. Your feedback is an important contributor to decisions to modify course content/pedagogy
which is why we strive for 100% class participation in the survey.
All course teacher evaluations are conducted on-line. You will receive an e-mail one week prior to the
end of the course informing you that the survey site (https://www.stevens.edu/assess) is open along
with instructions for accessing the site. Login using your Campus (email) username and password.
This is the same username and password you use for access to Moodle. Simply click on the course that
you wish to evaluate and enter the information. All responses are strictly anonymous. We especially
encourage you to clarify your position on any of the questions and give explicit feedbacks on your
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overall evaluations in the section at the end of the formal survey that allows for written comments. We
ask that you submit your survey prior to end of the examination period.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week
Topic(s)
Readings
Homework
Projects
Introduction
Module
1
Module
2
Module
3
Module
4
Module
5
Module
6
1. Module I: Course overview,
review of the syllabus
2. Class activity: Gift giving
exercise
3. Begin to develop the design
question.
Empathy and Insight and
Learning How to Sketch
1.Review classmates sketches
2.Presentation: Project I –
3.The Design Question
4.Module II – Empathy
Synthesize and Define
1.Review classmates sketches
2. Module III – Synthesize and
Define.
3. Understand how to develop
a Point of View and Personas.
4. Class Activity: Generate 3
Personas
Ideation and Sketching
1.
Review
classmate’s
sketches.
2.Presentation: Project III –
POV and personas
3.Module IV - Ideation
4.Class
Activity:
Each
member of the team to
develop 6 sketches and chose
the 3 most promising to
present at the end of the class
– Project IV
Prototyping
Class Activity: Low Fidelity
Prototyping
1.
Review
classmate’s
sketches.
2.Module V - Prototyping and
Testing
3.Class Activity: Work on
Low-Fi Prototype to be
presented in class
Prototyping and Testing
1.Review classmates sketches
1. Brown, Tim, “Design Thinking,”
Harvard Business Review, June 2008.
2. Cooper, A., Reimann, R., and Cronin,
D. (2007). Understanding Users:
Qualitative Research. Ch. 4 in About
Face 3. pp. 49-73.
3. Buxton, W. Sketching User
Experiences, pp 40 -104.
1. Moggridge, B. (2010) Designing
Interactions and People. pp. 647-681.
2. Cooper, A., Reimann, R., and Cronin,
D. (2007) Modeling users: Personas and
goals. Ch. 5 in About Face 3. pp. 75108.
3. Cooper, A., Reimann, R., and Cronin,
D. (2007) The foundations of design:
Scenarios and requirements. Ch. 6 in
About Face 3. pp. 109-123.
1. Buxton, W. (2007). The anatomy of
sketching. pp. 104-141.
2. Buxton, W. (2007) It was a dark and
stormy night, pp. 261-271.
3. Moggridge, B. (2010) Futures and
alternative news. pp. 587-611
4. Will need to become familiar with
IDEO Method Cards (2003): 51 Ways to
Inspire Design. W. Stout Architectural
Books, San Francisco in order to do
Assignment 2.
Sketch 1
Assignment 1:
Thinking About
Design
Project II User
Research
Report
(Homework)
Sketch 2
Sketch 3
Assignment 2:
Look,
Learn,
Ask and Try
1. Moggridge, B. (2010) Prototypes. In
Ch. 10 of Designing Interactions.
Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, pp.
682-723
Sketch 4
1. Rudd, J., Stern, K. and Isensee, S.
(1996) Low vs. high-fidelity prototyping
Sketch 5
Assignment
Project I –
The Design
Question
(Homework)
Project III –
POV
and
personas
(Class 3 and
Homework)
Project IV –
Ideation
Sketches
(Complete
in Class 4)
Project V Low
Fi
Prototype
(Complete
in Class)
3:
Project VI –
High
Fi
5
2.Class Activity: Perform
usability test on ModLog from
Individual Assignment 3
3. Class Activity: Work on
High Fi Prototype.
Module
7
Story Telling
1.Review classmates sketches
2.Module VI – Story Telling
3. Class Activity: Storyboard
your project in order to create
a video for class 8
Module
8
Movie Day and Final Project
Presentations
debate. Interactions 3 (1), pp. 76-85.
\1. Buxton, W. (2007),
Storytelling, pp. 277-297.
Paper
Prototyping
Visual
2.
Storyboarding:
An
Empirical
Determination of Best Practices and
Effective Guidelines. Proceedings of
DIS 2006. pp. 12-21.
Prototype
(Homework)
Final Report
and Video
(Homework)
Sketch 6
Sketching Final
Report Due
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