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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Innovation Through Design: Think, Make, Break, Repeat by The University of Sydney

4.7
stars
1,882 ratings

About the Course

The evolution of design has seen it become a discipline no longer limited to the concerns of a singular, specific domain and develop to become a pathway for solving complex, nonlinear problems. Design is becoming a capability-enhancing skill, equipping people with the ability to deal with uncertainty, complexity and failure. In this course, we demonstrate how you can use design as a way of thinking to provide strategic and innovative advantage within your profession. Suitable for anyone who is curious about design and translating the processes and tools of design thinking into innovative opportunities, over 5 weeks we explore, apply and practice the design process: think, make, break and repeat. Through introducing theoretical concepts and examining industry case studies with leading Australian design firms, we investigate design as learning about the context (the thinking part), building prototypes as tangible representations (the making part) and testing potential solutions (the breaking part). We build on this by showing the productive value of moving through the process quickly and often (the repeating part), to improve ideas and develop new insights. Throughout the course, you will follow us through three of Australia’s most exciting design offices and learn from practicing designers and leaders in design. This insight into industry will enable you to develop a comprehensive understanding of design and the role it can and does play within the innovation landscape. You will leave this course with a set of practical tools and techniques to apply to situations within your own professional context, to translate problems into opportunities and solutions, and ultimately to innovate through design....

Top reviews

LL

Nov 7, 2020

Great overview of the design innovation process! The content is up-to-date and the professors really go above and beyond to make the course feel like a regular university course as much as possible.

AS

Feb 14, 2020

a light introduction to design thinking. not too taxing. easy to understand concepts with some practical applications tested. good stepping stone to more rigorous and testing design thinking courses

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1 - 25 of 526 Reviews for Innovation Through Design: Think, Make, Break, Repeat

By Jennifer B

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Aug 31, 2018

Good beginner course. But if you have the basics of design thinking, this might be too simple for you.

By Lisa T

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Jun 19, 2021

While the course content was really interesting and I would give the content itself a 5 star rating, the peer-review experience was horrible. In four out of five weeks, only quizzes needed to be taken and only one week required a peer-review assignment. However, this one peer review assignment counted 40% toward your overall grade and there seemed to be hardly anybody on the course who took this assignment seriously - they all seemed to grade randomly and without even reading my assignment, which I put a lot of effort in. It's virtually impossible to receive 100% on this course with these unfathomably fake peer review assignments.

By Gary C

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Jun 27, 2021

Great course. I knew a little about design thinking before I started this course but now I feel I I have a much better grasp of the process. The instructors in the videos are well-spoken and they speak plainly in everyday language that anyone can understand. Overall the content is succinct and well-structured. The quizzes and the assignment make sense, and they are directly applicable to the material taught. I ordered a copy of the book (which is excellent) but it is a handbook of methods rather than an explanation of the process. What would have been nice to know at the beginning of the course is that the book has a companion website would would be a great (and FREE) is a great resource for learners in the course: Design. Think. Make. Break. Repeat. (designthinkmakebreakrepeat.com)Opens in a new tab Finally, one book that is referenced several times in the course is Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things. It is inexpensive and it would be a valuable resource for anyone taking the course. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants an introduction to design thinking!

By Laure M

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Jul 7, 2019

Amazing lecture.For a newbie in the entire methodology of design for innovation, listening to the professionals explaining the steps they take to help create/improve the services and products each one of us uses was a game changer for me.They are passionate, extremely humble, and they make a difference.Because of them, because of the way this course was structured, I am commited to continue learning, while at the same time collecting data in my fields of interest,brainstorming ideas, prototyping and delivering improved processes.Many thanks.laure

By Viktoria

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Feb 28, 2021

This course can be useful to anybody. Although I have no intention to go into design and took the course rather to exercise my English in a more or less practical way, now I sometimes catch myself at trying to apply some design principles when thinking of new arrangements at my work. I have learnt not only about the advisability of testing a product in the process of creation but also about the possibility of testing some of its functions or parts separately. I suppose this course is a good starter for designers and a great source to get an idea of a product development process and draw inspiration for one's onw projects.

By Richi S

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Aug 29, 2021

Awesome experience. Learned a lot by undertaking the course. Willing to use it in future endeavors. Thank you University of Sydney, Professors and the entire team behind this course. Thank you again

By Ranjith s

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Jul 6, 2020

This course has absolutely been a different experience as a designer to look at things in a different aspect in to the day to day activities of life.Myself a professional artist and an aspiring interior designer with knowledge in product designing helped me get clear ideas and I have learnt that failure in a design would help me learn much more than a successful design. This course has been structured in a really fun learning manner making it more interesting to proceed further and a lot more to learn. Thanks for this wonderful learning experience.

By Wee T W

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Apr 15, 2021

Design principles taught are very practical that can be applied to everyday use. The course is well structured, and has many useful contents including valuable insights from experienced designers.

By Rohit A

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Apr 28, 2020

I really like this course.i had learned many thing.this course will help me in my entire life.the design process they explained is amazing and very practical.

By Muhammad A U

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Jan 6, 2020

A very well-structured course. I would recommend this course to everyone studying anything as he/she will surely get something out of this course.

By Seyed S

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Jan 1, 2021

Overall a good experience through coursera learning platform . The contents of the course are insightful and highly relevant to the subject taught.A wonderful course for not only to the beginners but also to experts in the field to refresh their knowledge.I strongly believe that the gained knowledge through the course “Innovation Through Design “ could be applied to support my day to day professional activities.

I’m Thankful for the Course instructors including University of Sydney relevant staff and Coursera for providing an opportunity to learn in a Tending topic on INNOVATION through Design

Well done ! keep it up!

Best Wishes

Seyed Shahmy

By Grace J X

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Jun 9, 2020

A very well structured and systematic short course on design thinking and processes. It's highly recommended for not just beginners to the design field but also learners who already have some experiences in developing design solutions to gain better reflection and in-depth thinking.

By Lindsey

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Nov 8, 2020

Great overview of the design innovation process! The content is up-to-date and the professors really go above and beyond to make the course feel like a regular university course as much as possible.

By Alastair S

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Feb 15, 2020

a light introduction to design thinking. not too taxing. easy to understand concepts with some practical applications tested. good stepping stone to more rigorous and testing design thinking courses

By Sanita B

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Apr 14, 2023

Brief and packed with information and concepts. Having learned about UX design fundaments I heard a lot that made sense and was familiar, however, the examples provided and designer input deepened my understanding and widened my knowledge. This is a great course for everyone as these concepts are all around un and can be implemented not only in physical design but also in developing a system or a way of working itself.

By Alex P V

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Jul 29, 2021

At the end of this course I can say that I am really satisfied with everything I studied and learned, I did not know much about the methodology, but I was delighted that all methods can contribute to excellent projects, I would also like to congratulate all the professionals who contributed, as they were careful in preparing all the course material, I recommend it to everyone.

By Grace A

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Feb 11, 2021

This was a great introduction to the key concepts of design thinking. I thought the readings were well selected, and the range of course presentation methods kept me engaged! I look forward to delving deeper now and learning about more methods to use in each step. I'd also love to see some examples of designing for things other than products here and there- like services!

By Tira N

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Feb 1, 2021

This course is very useful and practical to understand the design thinking strategy that significantly helps both designers and researchers organize the product designing approaches to the users.

By Pragnya A

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Sep 10, 2020

The course could have had a small project where we went through the whole process of innovating something. But otherwise very informative.

By Kamran L

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Jan 27, 2021

Good theoretical course, it could be better to add some hands-on exercises.

By Ernawati C

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May 20, 2022

Professors:

The professors are engaging and it is so refreshing seeing how the professors give lectures without the aid of powerpoint. Usually, I would be busy trying to take notes and half of the time, I ended up missing some of the keypoints. Also, I always look forward to what I’m going to learn in the next video. 

Experts:

Having the experts doing content is a great idea as it gives the students the opportunity to see how the real world works. And how the materials taught during the lectures can be applied in the real world. All the experts have their own ways of doing things, but the essence is the same as what is being taught during lectures; Think, Make, Break & Repeat.

Contents:

Overall experience:

I have a great experience studying this course. I do hope those who are interested in design to enrol this course as it definitely benefited me. I’m not a creative person nor I’m in a design profession, but it did help me in my profession as an engineer. 5 modules in a span of 5 weeks can be done pretty quickly if you have the time to spare. 

By Ashi G

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Sep 12, 2023

Absolutely been a fruitful experience being a self taught aspiring designer it helped me get my foundation strong. The course is Brief and packed with information and concepts and yet has been structured in a really fun learning manner making it more interesting to proceed further and a lot more to learn.Thanking the Experts Martin Tomitsch Holly Hudson Liam Bray Cara Wrigley for this wonderful learning experience.Excited to apply these newfound skills and perspectives to drive innovation and create impactful solutions in the future!

By NGUYEN J

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Jan 7, 2022

Perfect. As a graduate student, majoring in Graphic Design. I would say that this course helps me gain a better insight into knowledge, skills and develop a comprehensive understanding of design and the crucial role of the innovation landscape. By that, I can gain experience in both my career and life in general. As a result, these approaches will assist me in applying the required fundamental values that these methods bring to work and study as I design goods for clients and the working market in the future.

By Anirudh K

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Oct 19, 2019

I used to assume designing things was a simple & easy thing to do it's only while I was doing this course that I discovered all the step & thought process that goes in to make a design for any ordinary object.

This course opened my eyes & gave me a wider perspective of the design industry. I learned alot & nothing in this course was useless, the course was full of useful information & examples that made learning fun & interesting.

Overall, this is an excellent course!

By Jullian L

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Jun 24, 2023

This course was very helpful and informative. As a designer it gives structured and organized map of the creative process. It clearly demonstrates the pragmatic stages of design processing. The reading materials are very educational and the instructors give clear and relevant examples to support the weekly lesson goals.

The only challenge was with some of the questions. Also, I was not able to open a link in the week 5 quiz