Master of Design in Design Innovation & Service Design

The Glasgow School of Art

Programme Overview

The transformation from a manufacturing to an experience economy has led to the emergence of a design discipline focused on the systems and services that define many of our everyday interactions. Service Design puts human experience and aspiration at the heart of the design process by ensuring that experiences are meaningful and targeted towards people’s needs and abilities.

At The Innovation School, Service Design is taught as a means of applying design processes to complex problems, combining artefacts and interactions to produce services that exist, unfold and evolve in both space and time. The MDes in Design Innovation & Service Design focuses on the social value of service design, as well as its economic importance. It is about addressing real issues that affect real people, by understanding them from each stakeholder’s point of view.

The programme seeks to equip students with the thinking, tools and processes required to practice Service Design, so they can drive innovation in the conception, design and delivery of services and experiences. Live projects provide a rich experience of design innovation through collaborations with private and public sector organisations. The learning experience is further enhanced by direct input from leading Service Design professionals.

You will also have the opportunity to engage with peers from international schools as part of the annual Winter School held at the campus in Forres. This seasonal event brings together students and faculty from leading institutions around the world for a two-week programme of lectures, workshops and networking opportunities that offers an insight into what a career in design as a global activity looks like.

Assessment

The assessment combines written work, visual and project material produced both by groups and individuals. The assessment formats are designed to develop analytical thinking, creative synthesis and a rigorous capacity for reflection and self-evaluation. There is an emphasis upon collaborative studio working combined with individual exploration and analysis of theoretical positions and discourses. Students will also achieve PgCert and PgDip exit awards during this course.