Re-Designing the Design Brief as a Digital Learning Tool with Participatory Design Approach

Abstract

Today, industrial design education is faced with a new group of students who have met daily life technologies from a very early age. The transformations in educational environments are becoming more and more important for project-based and student-centered design education model. Understanding the needs and expectations of the changing student profile has become essential for design education, which puts new and original outputs as the main objective. Students’ expectations of having a say in their own learning environments also provide an important opportunity for them to play an active role in the focus of this change. The aim of this study is to determine the design criteria of a new learning tool in line with the needs and expectations of the new generation industrial design students with a student-oriented approach. Participatory Design workshops were organized to expose expectations of the current learners about a new Design Brief in a digital and online medium. In this qualitative study conducted with participatory design method, gamification elements were used to increase students’ motivation, interest, and participation. Design criteria for a new generation design brief have been introduced with participatory design method. All suggestions were found to indicate a more interactive structure depending on the variable and cyclical structure of the design.