MA Design for Industry 5.0

Underpinning this industrial design course are principles of human-centred design, and by extension, multispecies design, combined with design-led social entrepreneurship, circular economy and open innovation. This is enabled by digital transformation along with fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine to Machine communication. This course experiments in merging physical and digital space. It explores equitable futures for manufacturing through the creative and ethical application of data-driven machinery and intelligent software in dialogue with existing design and manufacturing processes. 

The course title, MA Design for Industry 5.0, draws on  the EU’s concept of Industry 5.0 : [it] “provides a vision of industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society... while respecting planetary boundaries” (2021). The course prepares you to shape a planet-centric industry that reinforces its role and contributions to society. 

Care for the individual, society and planet are embodied in teaching and learning and applied to design challenges. Considering the historic context of industrial design, where care has seldom been considered throughout the manufacturing chain, caring approaches and technological opportunity will allow us to disrupt and innovate manufacturing paradigms. The concept of ‘Matters of care' is therefore both subject and method on this course. Care is defined as an attentiveness and sensitivity to the impact and effect of the design intervention. The definition of ‘Matters of Care’ for this course is drawn from Maria Puig De La Bellacasa. She takes philosopher Tronto’s definition of care, which encompasses everything we do to ‘maintain, continue and repair our world’ to create an environment where we can all live well ‘in a complex, life sustaining web’ (2017:217). This is inflected with a multi-species approach, that sees care, and caring, as a disruptive force that can engender positive change.  

We see the designer as a critical social actor who works and co-operates with others across disciplines to research, generate and develop new products, systems and services. We promote an interdisciplinary culture, one that brings together diverse interests in design and production to examine and articulate production in terms of its benefits to human and non-human stakeholders.  

By engaging with new creative opportunities provided by decentralisation, automation and data exchange in manufacturing, MA Design for Industry 5.0 promotes the entrepreneurial use of intelligent, data-driven technologies applied with social purpose and ambition. 

On this course, you will be defining a future for industry. You will generate and visualise new ways of collaborative working at the confluence of design, entrepreneurship, technology and manufacturing. 

How: 

Project-based learning is the overarching approach. This is complemented with team-based co-learning and collaborative co-creation. This approach encourages the development and enhancement of appropriate interpersonal skills, empathy, and active listening. You will take an intersectional approach to your learning, especially in the evaluation of key stakeholders. This approach considers ethics at all points of the learning journey (learning through doing, and modelling behaviour), as well to all stakeholders within the design process.  

Building, critiquing and extending technical competencies is an important aspect of your learning; enabled through inductions, technical workshops, skill-sharing and peer-learning activities, and realised and reinforced through project work. This will include selected applied digital technical competencies/tools such as scripting. Critical experimentation, adaptation, risk-taking and independent exploration are encouraged. 

Design methods such as research, ideation, iterative design development, prototyping and manufacturing, are key learning methods. Entrepreneurial ambition is built through the course, with precise articulation in Unit 3 emphasising design strategy and planning. You will evidence this in planning documents and opportunity mapping.  

The development of softer and ethical competencies concerned with matters of care are as important as technical and entrepreneurial skills in the course. “Care” is examined through practice-based means (projects, collaborations, challenges), design theory lectures, and discussions, providing robust critical and ethical frameworks, to inform your work. In the context of MA Design for Industry 5.0, care is highlighted in the practices of empathic user-centered- and co-design. 

The course therefore references UNESCO’s key competencies for sustainability in planning and delivery of the course: systems thinking, anticipatory, normative, strategic, collaboration, critical thinking, self-awareness, and integrated problem-solving competencies. These are all developed throughout the course but emphasised in particular units. For example, in Unit 2, the emphasis is on developing critical thinking and collaboration competencies. 

We are committed to developing ethical design practices. To achieve this, we are working to embed UAL's Principles for Climate, Social and Racial Justice into the course.