Teaching product design morphology: matching educational goals with affordances of digital tools

Industrial designers use several kinds of representations to support reflection-in-action while developing design proposals. In online learning environments, access to different kinds of representation hinders design discussions. The flow of design discussions, where one makes use of different kinds of representations to communicate an idea or discuss a particular aspect, does not reach its full potential because of the affordances provided by digital tools and the limitations of the medium. This fact challenges tutors who need to plan industrial design courses in digital learning environments.
This paper presents a case study on the development of a course in product design morphology, set in the context of problem-based learning in the MSc of Industrial Design at Aalborg University.
The study focuses on the process of matching educational goals and learning activities with specific affordances of digital tools. The method applied in the case study is formalised into two phases: one for overall alignment between educational goals and course structure and a second one for detailing. During the detailing phase, the alignment of sub-goals with learning activities must consider the specific affordances offered by digital environments. Externalising the thought process through representations is key to supporting reflection-in-action. As a result, critical assessment guides decision-making for designing specific learning activities. This includes the development of strategies to minimise cognitive load for the identified affordances, such as creating templates or using analogies from other tools commonly used in professional practice for illustrative purposes. In the end, these strategies contribute to situating the affordances in a larger context of practice.