Category: Design education
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Making the Design Wishes Tarot
The Design Wishes Tarot builds on a long tradition within the U101: Design Thinking module. For over a decade, students have been provided postcards so that they could post them back to the Open University, addressed to LOLA—’the spirit’ of the module. On these cards, they were invited to express their wishes and hopes for…
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From traffic to teaching: Lessons on informal designs from Nigeria
On my way to Nigeria, I read an article in Wallpaper* magazine (October 2025) about ‘informal designs’ in Nigeria. This felt like a coincidence because I was travelling to Lagos to give a keynote address at the 4th International Colloquium of the Distance Learning Institute at the University of Lagos. The audience included more than…
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New Book: Studio Properties
“There is something very special about the studio as a place of practice and learning” After years of research and writing, Studio Properties: A Field Guide to Design Education is now out! The book is co-authored by a team of international design educators and scholars, including myself (Derek Jones) and Nicole Lotz. It builds on…
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Designing the OU
We’ve been teaching design at the OU since its beginning in the 1970’s. So it’s always been fascinating to me how you design a thing like The Open University? And trust me, the OU was designed. If you look at the history of the the early vision and ideas for the OU, you can see…
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Campus Life_1: our green spaces
Walton Hall Campus As a 4 nation university we may sometimes forget that we have a central campus in Milton Keynes. Academics, technicians and administrators – the wearers of muddy boots on a building site in the early 1970s – today have the benefit of working in a green and diverse landscape covering 111 acres…
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Service Design in Practice: Reflections on Co-Teaching for the T190 Module
By Rachel A. Wood & Samantha Osys. Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of co-teaching a session on Service Design in Practice as part of the Open University’s T190 module. As both PhD researchers and service designers, we wanted to offer students a real-world perspective on how service design unfolds in practice. The session…
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Reflections on Mentoring in Design Practice
Once upon a time… when I was a young, carefree designer… many earth cycles ago… I found myself stuck under what they call a “glass ceiling.” I struggled to advance within my organisation until my line manager suggested I get a mentor. At the time, I had no idea what she meant. A quick search…
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Design at the Sharps End
The smell of oil and grease evokes happy memories of hours teaching in a secondary school engineering work shop, the clatter of tools and low rumble of machinery, familiar and almost homely – but there is another odour, a whiff of ozone, and this is not year seven last period on a wet Wednesday afternoon.
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Design Studio and Project-Based Learning
If you are a design student or educator, chances are that you have experience of and perhaps some strong views about the design studio. The design studio is a place that gives opportunities to students (and tutors) to co-exist: to interact, ask questions, work together, or work side-by-side, and learn from one another: either directly…
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An introduction to the design of education: My experience as a design curriculum intern
Between November 2023 and May 2024, I had the opportunity to take on the role of Curriculum Design Intern. My responsibilities were primarily focused on providing feedback on educational content developed for future Design modules at the OU. I applied to the internship after seeing the Design team’s wish to engage with diverse students. As…