MSc/PgD/PgC Product Design

Course Overview

The MSc Product Design course at Cardiff Met is a practically based, taught Masters programme with excellent industry links and a focus on enhancing the employability of its graduates. It balances the development of advanced practical design skills with academic rigour and applied research based on the current research activities of Cardiff School of Art and Design and the wider university. Our Product Design Masters’ Degree will develop your skills and knowledge of human centred interaction design, user testing, service design, creativity, and ethnographic research techniques. You will also examine the social, legal, ethical and sustainability impacts of a range of design development approaches.

You will explore a range of current and leading theoretical and methodological perspectives, and develop an advanced understanding of physical, perceptual and cognitive principles in design. The MSc Product Design has been developed in consultation with industry, and maintains close commercial links through placement modules, sponsorship of major projects, and live briefs. This provides graduates with a deeper understanding of industry practices, and the design development process in a holistic commercial context. This course aims to enhance your employability by providing you with the skills and knowledge that are in demand by industries both at home and globally, as well as providing opportunities to develop your abilities as an entrepreneur.

Assessment

The modules are typically delivered through: Lectures; Seminars; Workshops; Virtual learning, e.g. Blackboard or student blogs or wikis; Self-directed study. Lectures will be used to present basic concepts and principles. Tutorials and Seminars will be used to discuss and explain specific problem areas. Peer group tutorials will be used to discuss and explain specific problem areas. Case studies exercises and examples will be used to contextualise realistic design problems and practice. Outside experts may be invited to contribute and site visits might also be employed. The Industrial Placement delivery will be via appropriate work experience, normally project based. Students can exit at Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma levels.

Employability & Careers

The course is principally aimed at enabling students to develop their careers in the world of professional product design and development. A key advantage in achieving this aim is the industrial placement module. All students are given assistance in gaining a suitable placement either in industry or within the National Centre for Product Design and development Research (PDR) which is located on the university campus. On completion of the course, graduates may expect to find employment in design consultancies or manufacturing companies anywhere in the world.

Your year(s) of study with us enable you to develop professional contacts, observe how successful practitioners make their living, and hone your skills and ideas for commercial and professional advantage. Such cross-disciplinary collaborations prepare you for a world where you will inevitably work with people from all walks of life. Your live projects and assessments will get you accustomed to the importance of deadlines and working to specific briefs and tight specifications. Over the next few years, CSAD will be developing opportunities for incubation of business proposals from its graduates and postgraduate training to get business opportunities up and running. All students’ are expected to complete a portable ‘record of achievement’ and use their PDP to support employability and life-long learning, normally in the form of a blog, that integrates opportunities for self-reflection in programmes in order to help them develop as effective and confident learners.