Strategy and vision

Design is inextricably linked to social processes. Society is constantly changing, and with it the people who are continuously moving between different places, within spaces and social contexts. Movement in its various forms and effects can only be adequately experienced in complex research and design contexts.

We offer students the opportunity to explore diverse and individual social phenomena with a specific focus on "movement." The term "society" is to be understood as multidimensional and includes not only people as actors, but also their artifacts and information. We refer to the processes of change that take place within society between people and people, as well as between people and artifacts or information, as movement and see this dynamic as a challenging design task.

In the field of strategy and vision, social issues are examined from different perspectives and the subsequent design process is continuously developed with the help of interdisciplinary methods. We enable students to formulate questions, act in a transdisciplinary context, generate solutions using different strategies and methods, and communicate using different media.

Solutions to questions in the field of strategy and vision often transform into products, product systems, and/or services. The individual work steps are broken down, analyzed, and explained using design/practice theories. Research, ideation, and implementation methods, as well as market and trend analysis tools and their application, deepen the knowledge gained and make the processes comprehensible. In our student and research projects, we work very closely with industry, economic and cultural institutions, and local authorities.

If the focus is on people and a (still) undefined issue, and if there is access to a real-life and/or working environment, these projects are carried out with the involvement of the relevant stakeholders through the use of design (methods) and participation. Design and design processes have come into focus in recent years as complex social issues could no longer be addressed with familiar measures. Terms such as social design, design & democracy, and design & participation have become firmly established in international design discourse.

Social design has developed into another focus of the Industrial Design program from the areas of strategy and vision and the design methods practiced. The two teaching areas are in constant exchange and closely linked in the teaching of the Industrial Design B.A. and M.A. programs as well as in research projects.