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The University of Edinburgh: Design Informatics

Institution The University of Edinburgh View institution profile
Department School of Informatics
Web https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying
Study type Taught

Summary

Design informatics combines data science with design thinking in a context of critical enquiry to create compelling and meaningful new data-driven experiences, products and services.

The central premise of design informatics is that data is a medium for design: by shaping data, we shape the world around us. Data science provides the groundwork for this, with design thinking underpinning reflective research through design.

Our programme focuses on providing foundational skills on the integration of design thinking and data science with an emphasis on exploring the role of data-driven technologies in society and the potential of such technologies to be a social good. Students are supported to develop an ethically aware, critically reflective technical practice at the interface between data and society by combining theory and research with an open-ended process of making and hacking.

What will I learn?

The programme will provide foundational and advanced knowledge in:

  • Fundamentals of data science and its integration into design processes

  • Methods of user research, end user co-design and speculative design

  • Programming for data visualisation, data physicalisation, physical computing and responsive materials

  • Data ethics and its application in research and practice

You will connect data-driven technology with contexts and domains, such as:

  • Societal challenges and sustainable development goals

  • Health and care

  • Fashion

  • Finance

  • Urban spaces and smart cities

You will also look at a host of other real-world contexts through case studies as well as individual and collaborative projects.

You will also touch on the ways in which emergent developments in artificial intelligence impact design processes and the ways in which we experience new products and services.

MSc

Edinburgh. Extraordinary futures await.

The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50, and placed 22nd in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.

Our position as one of Britain’s leading research universities was reaffirmed by the results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK for research power (Times Higher Education, Overall Ranking of Institutions), with 90% of our research activity classified as world leading or internationally excellent in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

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