Co-Design Studio

If you have a vast interest in design and innovation, you want to enhance and deepen your designing skills and mindset and understand thoroughly the diverse users and contexts you are designing for and you are willing to work hard for this, you are very welcome to our next edition of the Co-Design Studio. We’d love to work with you!

This is not school. This is the engaging design studio working with real clients and coaches that actually work in the field of design. Here the knowledge of designers and creatives from all fields and all countries come together in a professional design agency run by you; the juniors. We focus on social and systemic design in diverse contexts; with our link to our technical environment and a strong heart for lasting sustainability, life-changing health care solutions, and relevant social innovations that include the society.

Here is a video impression:

Co-Design is a way of working that fosters shared creativity and collective problem-solving, enabling people to actively participate in shaping solutions or interventions that matter to them. Developing new products and services is becoming increasingly complex, because of the technology used, global competition and the interconnectedness of products, services and infrastructure. Successfully innovating products and services is therefore not just about the smart use of technology and designing the things right, it is also about designing the right things. As we delve into the depths of the co-design field, we work on solving complex design challenges together with the target group and stakeholders, instead of for the target group. Next to that main topic of co-design, we’ll also have a strong focus on the following themes:

• Social & systemic design
  Social and systemic design are about exploring the context and stakeholders of the projects on different levels of abstraction. We make sure we include diverse stakeholders during the whole project and we visualize what the connections between these stakeholders and elements in the complex systems are. In this way we try to understand the current system as good as possible and we design for a better system.
• Design research & creatorship
  We design for two different goals: We design interventions to understand the system and we try to understand the system to design interventions for the system (yes, read that again). Therefore we are constantly switching between the creator’s role and the facilitator’s role as a designer. We create experienceable concepts, low and high-fidelity prototypes and you will learn how to facilitate co-design sessions.
• Impact & change
  Systems can be very complex, you only have to turn a button and everything can change. This can have an impact on different levels of abstraction and that is why we think it is important to consciously deal with the impact that an intervention will make in a system. Such complex projects therefore involve social considerations and considerations regarding sustainability and ethics.
• Professional & personal growth
  A ‘concept’ means something different to everyone. This is just one example, but it shows why we love to work in interdisciplinary and international teams: we want to learn from each other’s ‘worlds’ and visions. Furthermore, we think it is important that you get started with shaping your own vision and becoming aware of who you are as a (design) professional. Drawing up a moral compass is also a part of this. Sometimes you are faced with ethical decisions, which choices do you make and why?

This program is offered to you by HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, their research group Co-Design, and is operated by Fundamentals Academy. Over 20 experienced professionals known for their skills in (product) design, user-centered design, user research, experience design, rapid prototyping, entrepreneurship, and organisational development, are directly connected to our studio and are supporting you throughout the programme. This means that during the programme we are well-connected, and our juniors benefit from this for the knowledge brought in is crisp and fresh.

We are offering this design program to both designers (e.g. product design or communication multimedia design) and non-designers (e.g. health care students, business students, engineering students). Feel free to contact us for any information regarding the programme or how it will most benefit your development.

Admission

If you care about creativity and innovation, and you’re ambitious, you’re the one we are looking for! You need to have at least a propaedeutic diploma (issued after the first year of university studies). You don’t need to arrange an internship to participate in this fulltime minor.

The Examination Board has already determined which minors do not have a higher professional education level and/or have an unacceptable overlap with the compulsory curriculum of your own study programme. Check at the page Not allowed minor courses under your institute which minors are not allowed. This page will be updated from 21 February 2025 for the 2025-2026 minor offer. 

Content

During the minor you’ll build experience and expertise on involving your users and creating engaging concepts. In our 3 Design Projects, you’ll really get to work on a current case for one of our clients. During everything you do, our coaches will guide you through to make sure this will be one of the best programs you will ever experience. The frameworks of the minor exist of:

• Projects for clients
  We are working on 3 big projects. The first project is about co-design, the second project is about systemic design and in the last project you can select the best fitting approach. Last years, we worked for example for UMC Utrecht, Vanderlande, Municipality of Utrecht, Zero food waste (Orbisk), Hieroo, SAIL Amsterdam, and many others.
• Workshops
  During the workshops we offer you the opportunity to work with our coaches on a direct and personal level. We offer design related tools and methods and you build experience and expertise on involving diverse stakeholders and creating impactful concepts.
• Challenges
  Sometimes we get the opportunity to join a one-week challenge, for example the Sustainable City Challenge or the Week of the Bedside Table. In these challenges you will run through the overall design process in a pressure cooker setting.
• The international week
  The international week is a week where all the juniors are send to one of our international partners within Europe to collaborate for a few days on their project. We have been collaborating with f.e. Turku (FI), Warsaw (PL), Aarhus (DK), Budapest (H), Toulouse (FR), Aínsa (SP), Milan (IT).
• (Life) Coaching
  Personal and professional development is an important part of our program. That’s why we are focusing on this part for a full week throughout the ‘War room week’. Next to that we offer personal coaching and some of our coaches are primarily focused on helping you articulate your professional growth.
• Your professional portfolio
  A portfolio is one of the signature deliverables. You’re showing your overall quality as a design professional rather than realizing a set of objects/services. You can also use this portfolio when you are searching for an internship or a graduation project.

Check our website for more information and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’ve any questions: www.codesignstudio.nl

Curious about our current group of juniors? Follow them on Instagram: codesign_studio

Learning outcomes

Mastering the Design Process (25%)
You adopted the design thinking and co-design process and are able to select, execute and evaluate the appropriate methods in each phase to solve complex design problems.

Impact and change (25%)
You are able to approach design projects from a systemic perspective with the goal to add value for all stakeholders. The final solution is implementable for the client and transferred to the client in such a way that they are able further the project themselves.

Be a design professional (50%)
You have developed a clear identity as a design professional. Are valuable for the team process and internal studio work. You can reflect meaningfully on your own contributions and the workings as a group. You are able to take on a facilitative role in the design process and are able to communicate your work to team members, stakeholders and supervisors.

Courses

The programme takes place during one semester and contains the following courses:

Please note that the programme reflects a (logical) bundle of courses/subjects and should normally be followed as such. It is not possible to combine (two or more) programmes in one single period.

Assessment

In the minor Co-Design Studio we work according to the educational concept of Programmatic Assessment. This means that you do not receive a grade and credits for every final product you produce. At the end of the semester you show in a final assessment that, with all the assignments and feedback together, you’ve grown and are at the desired level for the various learning outcomes. The learning outcomes describe the final level you as a student should be at the end of the semester. Because the emphasis is on the learning outcomes, your development as a professional is central. Making a mistake provides rich feedback that allows you to grow towards the next measurement point. The focus is on your growth towards the described final level, with more freedom in how you want to demonstrate that growth.

If you successfully can show your growth during the program and the final assessment, you will receive 30 ECTS.

Literature

The following literature will be discussed during the minor. You will receive a definite reading list before the start of the minor.

• Godfroij, B., Van Der Lugt, R., Peek, S., & Brankaert, R. (2023). Changing roles in interdisciplinary Research-through-Design. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 409–433).
• Knapp, J., Zeratsky, J., & Kowitz, B. (2016). Sprint: How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days.
• Lewrick, M. (2018). The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital transformation of teams, products, services, businesses and ecosystems.
• McKercher, K. A. (2020). Beyond sticky notes: Co-Design for Real: Mindsets, Methods and Movements.
• Sanders, E., & Stappers, P. (2013). Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design.
• Veenhoff, J., & Pater, M. (2022). Collaborate or Die: The Co-creation Handbook for Change makers. Van Duuren Media.

Schedule

This programme is tough. Normally it took 40+ hours a week (when in doubt, please contact one of our alumni to confirm). Since 2023 we started to work on average 4 full days a week (in general Monday-Thursday from at least 09.30-17.30h, but sometimes we add a Friday) instead of 5 days, this means that you also have some time to work at your side job or see your friends.

Why do we work full days, do we expect you to be there and expect you to go for the extra mile? We believe that only with a lot of effort and attention from both you and us, we can do great things this semester. Unfortunately this means that it’s not possible to join us during this program if you can’t be there 4 full days a week.

The exact schedule will be shared with you in the first week.

With the exception of the first teaching period of the academic year (starting September), the lesson and test schedules are always posted on Mijn Rooster four weeks before the start of each teaching period. The schedule for the first teaching period of the academic year can be found on the site three weeks before the start. The most up-to-date schedule is always visible on Mijn Rooster. 

At HU, full-time education may be scheduled between 08:30 and 19:00.

Additional costs

€500,-. This amount includes among others: introduction days, accommodation and travel expenses for the international week, material costs, drinks etc.

This minor course is marked by the Green Office as a potential sustainable minor. This means that, if you choose a relevant path within the minor, you can contribute to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals from the UN.