Want to know how to design your own products?
Develop your product design skills and become familiar with design practices such as Interaction design, Product-Service design and Sustainable design. In the exchange programme All-round Designer you will be challenged to apply and improve your product design knowledge by attending lectures, participating in workshops and working on relevant assignments for real clients. Your future client expects you to consider all the technical, human-interaction, social and commercial interests it takes to turn a new product idea into a market success. This all-round and integrated approach is what this programme is all about.
What's All-round Designer like?
This bachelor's level exchange programme (30 ECTS credits) is available in three variants: Engineering, Product Experience and Innovation. Each specialization involves working on assignments for real clients.
The additional application requirement when applying for this programme is: a portfolio of design work (to be uploaded as pdf).
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Product All-round Designer (21 ECTS credits)
All-round Designer is an intensive project that focuses on engineering, product experience or innovation during a 15-week period. You collaborate in teams and work on your personal design. The project leads to a concrete product, a convincing concept or business proposals for participating industries. Which specialization will you choose?
Engineering
Execute a full scale design process and get in depth knowledge and experience in the workings and making of a product. You will follow subjects in:
- Biomimicry: Learn from nature how to solve engineering challenges. When it comes to problem-solving, nature has a 3.5 billion-year head start on humans. In this course you learn a methodology to apply biomimicry in a design process.
- Functional testing: Learn how to design experiments and do research if ideas for functions will work in real life.
- Factory excursions & Design Rules of Production Techniques: Conduct research for design rules of the manufacturing techniques suitable for your design and apply these rules in the project.
- Mechanical Strength Analysis: Prove that your product will hold the forces applied on them, by assessing the critical points in the design and calculating the mechanical strength.
Product experience
Execute a full scale design process and focus on the customer and how they experience a product. You will follow subjects in:
- Consumer Experience: Learn more about the experiential psychology of consumers and apply it to assignments.
- Design Research: Embedded in the project we will offer knowledge about how to research consumer experience aspects and the communication of cultural meaning through design.
- Meaningful Design: You will do design research and an assignment on communicating meaning by the use of design tools, such as colour, shape, and material.
- Product Context: Introduction to the design of a context to support the use of a product.
Innovation
Execute a full scale design process and get in depth knowledge and experience in the innovation and development of products. You will follow subjects in:
- Business Strategy: Learn how to develop a business strategy for your future company, using the tools large companies and consultancy firms are using.
- Advanced Marketing: Several modern marketing techniques will be presented, such as crowdsourcing, mobile marketing, digital marketing etcetera. After an introduction to these techniques, you will investigate the possibilities for application.
- Innovation: Methods & Management: Different methodologies for innovation will be presented. Also, you will learn how to facilitate creativity sessions through first-hand experience.
- Market Research: Which tools are available for substantial market research? These are dealt with from both a theoretical and a practical perspective.
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Professional life (2 ECTS credits)
Ready to kick-start your career as a professional designer? The module Professional Life provides all the tools you need to successfully start your career. Besides learning how to create, check and enhance your portfolio and using social media professionally, you will also learn about the ins and outs of running a small business.
Topics covered include:- The design office
- A professional LinkedIn page
- Your portfolio
- Choosing a job
- Applying for a job
- Pitching
- Meeting alumni
- Protecting your ideas
- Networking
- Website setup
- Start-up subsidies
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Designing interactive products (3 ECTS credits)
Roll up your sleeves, because in the module Designing Interactive Products you will create your own interactive prototype! In order to do so, you will acquire the tools, knowledge and skills for designing and prototyping interactive products. We will cover subjects such as:
- User-product interaction / Interaction Design
- User experience
- Sensors and actuators
- Programming Arduino
- Prototyping
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International week (2 ECTS credits)
During the module International week, you will undertake a real life, one week, project together with other international students. The objective is to create a tangible project result in a very short time in an international context.
Your project is assigned by an external client. Generally this project will be more in the
conceptual phase of a product development project. -
Open subject (2 ECTS credits)
For the Open subject you are free to choose an activity or subject that is relevant to the general purpose of the exchange programme All-round Designer. Your choice must be approved by the programme coordinator. Hobby projects are excluded.
Foreign students can also attend the introduction and language programme (check your Learning Agreement).
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Elective modules
Complete your exchange semester or year by taking one or more electives. The module Introduction to Windesheim is compulsory for all international students, but you are free to choose from the other options. You will receive ECTS credits when you complete a module successfully.
Introduction to Windesheim
Intercultural Awareness
Drama and Improvisation
Dutch Language
Dutch Society -
Course catalogue
Want to know more about the exchange programme of All-round Designer? Check the course catalogue for more information about matters such as assessment and teaching methods.
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Product All-round Designer (21 ECTS credits)
Requirements and application
You are required to have two years of Bachelor’s study experience in a relevant field (e.g. Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Business) and English-language skills at B2 level.
Want to follow the Innovation variant? Then you are required to have business related study experience.
Practical information
Academic Calendar Finance
Housing Visa Facilities
Credits and Grading Partnerships
Learning Agreement
When you decide to do an exchange programme at Windesheim, you have to sign the Learning Agreement of your programme. The Learning Agreement is a crucial document for the recognition of a study period abroad. It is an agreement between you, your university and Windesheim.