DE7032 - Responsible Design Practice

In Responsible Design Practice (DE7032/LD7217) (20 credits) you will learn through an amalgam of teaching methods including lectures, tutorials and tutor-guided independent learning. Acting as a design researcher, you will work closely with academics and peers in their subject area to build a cooperative partnership in driving forward knowledge innovation and disciplinary responsibility. Situated within a postgraduate design research community, you will push boundaries in approach, process and execution to make a difference to people, spaces and the environment.

This module is run in parallel with the DE7031/LD7216 Research Through Design module (20 credits) in the first teaching block aligning the principles of responsible design practice with specific subject-orientated research activities helping to deepen the disciplinary context and theoretical knowledge. You will draw on a range of disciplinary contexts to inform and guide the development of responsible design strategies and initiate alternative innovative design thinking. The information learned within this module will help you contextualise all future design discourses and challenges in disciplinary-specific teaching blocks 2 and 3. You will begin to learn-through-doing in the implementation and application of theory in advance of the other programme modules and in preparation for the DE7003/LD7047 Project/Thesis (60 credits).

Throughout this module, you will continue to develop your design philosophy and understanding of interior, spatial and environmental contexts and methodologies and build your reflective accounts of your personal values in the generation of their ideas. This will help the implementation of their philosophy during the utilisation of appropriate design strategies and design thinking tools. This process will continue to be recorded in your Personal and Professional Development Journal (PDJ) utilised to evidence the knowledge, skills and understanding attained from the learning in this module.

Working within a design community, research excellence is positioned at the forefront of the support available, enabling you to work alongside academic leaders and fellow students to build a clear context for the discipline and the connections in a trans-disciplinary manner. You will be encouraged to develop new and innovative approaches that will disrupt thinking and facilitate debate amongst the postgraduate community. You will be encouraged to pose questions and challenge norms to drive forward academic quality and aid in the development of innovative responsible design propositions that will generate new insight of the Interior, spatial and environmental realms. During discussions in both one-to-one tutorials and group critiques, you will be provided with verbal formative feedback providing the opportunity for reflection, improvement and revision before submission. Written summative feedback will be provided along with the opportunity for further verbal discussion to facilitate reflection and evaluation.

Where appropriate, you will be supported in developing relationships with external communities to further your project positions including product manufacturers, professional design consultants, non-governmental organisations and charities.

Further formal academic support is provided via information posted on E-Learning Portal. Where appropriate, you may also be directed to engage with Study Skills +, or other resources offered through the University Student Support Services such as Dyslexia Support. The Library is open 24 hours a day and E-Learning Portal houses all your module documents including your timetable. These services can be accessed on a range of devices

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding (KU):

3. Articulate and apply to practice an understanding of the process through which knowledge is created within your interior, spatial and environment design discipline

4. Through practice develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the richness of your own capabilities in the context of your professional value. Display and critically apply expert knowledge and philosophical stance within areas of your discipline and practice.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities (IPSA):

4. Present a portfolio of professional practice capabilities and articulate the focus and detail of design value in a variety of situations to both specialist and non-specialist audiences

7. Create real commercial/social value in the organisational context of your work

Personal Values Attributes (PVA):

6. Be able to think independently, understand and justify your own opinions

Summative Assessment 100%

A body of development work (Development Workbook Journal) will explore the application of responsible design strategies in the interior, spatial and environmental design lifecycle. This will include evidence of using appropriate design thinking methods and the utilisation of theories and models discussed during the module. Development will be recorded using methods appropriate to the individual (Development workbook journal, annotated bibliography etc.) demonstrating a continuation of investigation through the DE7031/LD7216 Research Through Design module through appropriate secondary resources. 2000w written report.

In combination with the work developed with DE7031/LD7216 Research Through Design module, the plan for the Personal and Professional Development Journal (PDJ) will be compiled, providing detail for the area of inquiry for the discipline, specific modules, and DE7003/LD7046 Project/Thesis (60 credits). This will evidence personal reflection and begin to map the implementation of personal values as a creative change-maker.


Verbal formative assessment will be given throughout the semester through peer and tutor feedback in seminars and tutorial support

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DE7032/LD7217 Responsible Design Practice (20 credits) allows you to consider the value of design as a key tool for change through the innovation of interior, spatial, and environment design environments. Diverse approaches to design will enable this change, with principles of ethics and sustainability guiding the problem-solving process. Moving away from the negative environmental and social impact, this module enables you to think differently, utilising design tools to create innovative processes and system solutions for a more responsible future.

Working cross-disciplinary, this module utilises creative design strategies, underpinned with robust theory reflective of responsible values appropriate to the spatial, environmental and interior design sector. With a focus on future employability, advanced research and design thinking tools will enable you to become a future change-maker, developing new approaches and exciting solutions appropriate for the execution and realisation of space.