Design Education 4.0: Technology-driven design futures & the future of design education

Abstract

Design education has always strived to equip future designers the knowledge, skills, and expertise to work at the intersection of applied technology and the people who use it. The difference for contemporary design is the accelerating pace of technological change. Where previous generations expected to use the same core technology throughout their lifetime, users now and into the future will experience significant change within a generation. We report a project aimed at understanding how design education must change to leverage the opportunity of technology-driven design futures. In an international, collaborative project on the future of design education, we report a comparative audit of education provision at one Korean and one UK-based design school, both located within colleges of engineering at their respective institutions. We also report insights derived from a workshop activity (Design Sprint). During the workshop, faculty and students form the two institutions, together with associated project partners, attempted to address design problems around sustainable futures: with focus upon technology-driven solutions. We finally report some initial insights and recommendations towards the skills and expertise required of the future designer.