Workshop: Design thinking in urban spaces

Hands-on workshop
Available on demand

Design thinking in urban spaces

This course will help you understand the design process through hands-on activities in public spaces. How does the signage in a nearby public space in your city look like? What insights can you gather to design the simplest solution to the problem you’ve recognised? How can you test it and refine it?

If you’re interested in design, urban spaces, or problem solving, you will find this course highly engaging and relevant.

No design background required.

Brief

If you’re interested in learning design, it’s vital to understand the design process. It isn’t often clear cut as textbook drawings will have you believe, instead it often involves messiness, asking the right questions, and lots of iteration.

Format

This course will involve a combination of field work and online interaction. Please note that you can participate in the course from the comfort of your city.

You will be assigned to a group of 3 or 4, based on proximity. You will work collaboratively on the field work. Your group will present your field work to the instructor for feedback and guidance, via a video call.

Overview

Session 1

2 PM – 2:30 PM: Introductions with group members
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM: Introduction to design thinking
4 PM – 7 PM: Field work

Session 2

2 PM – 4 PM: Discussion and feedback session

Session 3

10 AM – 1 PM: Field work
2 PM – 4 PM: Feedback and conclusion

What you'll take away

In this class, you will:

Get hands-on experience with the foundations of design thinking
Refine your ideas through iteration and user feedback
Apply the design process in a physical environment
Develop universal design solutions that work for everyone involved
Design with constraints

Facilitator

Arun Ganesh

Arun has been trying to understand planet earth by walking, observing and drawing maps since childhood.

A graduate of the National Institute of Design, he is currently a digital cartographer at Mapbox.

Why ownpath

Live interaction

Interact with industry experts over video and text.

If you get stuck, need to know how well you’re doing, and where you can go next, we have you covered.

Personal feedback

On ownpath, you will learn by doing, with feedback from your facilitator.

With this feedback loop, your skills will grow much faster than learning alone.

Resources

The number of resources for learning any topic can be overwhelming.

On ownpath, you’ll be provided with highly curated and carefully produced guides that are specific and relevant to your learning needs.

Learn with peers

Working on projects with peers can be an enriching and enjoyable experience.

On ownpath, you won’t be alone. You’ll collaborate with peers and learn diverse perspectives towards approaching a problem.

What learners are saying

Meha B

On Fundamentals of visual communication design

Got amazing insights about design and how we neglect small details.

Jayashree Raman

On Design thinking in urban spaces

The result was 4 completely different urban signs, that we designed, and most importantly, learned by doing.

Rajesh Bhat

On Introduction to typography

The course (on ownpath) led by application with an overview of design principles to start with and got into specifics progressively.

Aishwarya Naik

On Personal coaching

I recommend any aspiring designer to give this a shot.