Design with Innovation

Design with innovation is a discipline that takes seriously the idea that the most important products and services of the future will emerge from people who can think across the boundaries between arts, science, engineering, business and the humanities. The twentieth century produced specialists; the twenty-first century increasingly needs generalists who can collaborate across disciplines, understand complex systems and bring both rigorous analytical thinking and creative imagination to bear on problems that do not fit neatly into any single field. This four-year programme at the University of Bristol is designed to cultivate exactly that kind of graduate.

You will develop skills in design practice and thinking, working through iterative processes of research, ideation, prototyping and testing that are central to how innovative products and services are developed. The programme integrates perspectives from across the university, drawing on engineering, the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities to give you the intellectual breadth that genuine innovation requires. A placement year gives you direct professional experience in a design, technology or creative industry context, building the professional relationships and practical credibility that employers look for.

Work placement opportunities are woven throughout the programme, and the four-year structure allows your skills and knowledge to develop in sustained depth.

Graduates of design with innovation programmes move into a wide and growing range of careers. Product design, service design, interaction design, design strategy and design leadership are all natural destinations, as are roles in innovation consultancy, technology development and entrepreneurship. The interdisciplinary training the programme provides also makes graduates competitive in management consultancy, user experience research and the development of digital products and services.

Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in design, innovation, engineering or business, while others move directly into the creative and technology sectors where their combination of skills is in real demand.