England

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Accessibility statement
An image to illustrate Design essentials module
In this module, you’ll develop practical skills and understanding of how to apply design thinking methods and tools to achieve social and ecological outcomes. Starting from your own experiences and interests, you’ll tackle a variety of challenges with social, technological, or environmental dimensions, and learn how design skills can be applied across almost every part of society – far beyond the traditional idea of creating products. Along the way, you’ll explore different designer roles and projects that make a meaningful difference in the world, and you’ll begin to imagine how you can do the same.
In this module, you’ll explore how design can be used to respond to some of the most pressing challenges facing society and the environment. Rather than focusing only on the design of products, you’ll examine the many ways design thinking can help people understand complexity, work collaboratively, generate new opportunities and create positive change. Throughout the module, you’ll engage with the work of designers who use creative methods and tools to address social, technological and ecological issues, and you’ll begin to see how these approaches might connect with your own interests and ambitions.
The module opens with a short introduction that sets the scene, introduces the idea of design for impact and briefly reviews the history of the design profession to show how new types of design work are emerging. From there, you’ll move through four blocks of study and practice, each focusing on a different role that designers take on to respond to complex challenges and design for impact. Each block includes real-world examples alongside a design guide to help you with your own project. Together, these blocks build your understanding, while also helping you develop your own practical and reflective approach to design.
Block 1: Design as sense-making
You’ll begin by studying and practising the role of a design researcher, learning how designers work with people, places or organisations to help them understand complex challenges and create ideas for responding to them. Using a range of design methods, you’ll learn to uncover these challenges and generate insights and ideas that make a difference in people’s lives, places, and to the planet.
Block 2: Design as collaboration-making
In this block, you’ll study and practice the roles of system designer, co-designer and design enabler, exploring how design can foster collaborations to address difficult issues. You’ll look at design not only as a collaborative activity in which designers work with others, but also as a way of creating collaborative systems involving people, technologies, and the natural world.
Block 3: Design as venture-making
In Block 3, you’ll study and practice the roles of design entrepreneur and design innovator, examining how design can be used to support innovations and ventures that aim to solve complex problems. You’ll consider design as a venture-making activity - a practice bringing together people, technologies and other resources around a shared purpose to create social or environmental value.
Block 4: Design as systemic change-making
The final block examines the role design can play in shaping systems and supporting longer-term change. You’ll study and practice the role of systemic change designer, exploring how designers can work with complexity, interconnection, and wider patterns of influence, and how design methods can contribute to more systemic responses to social and ecological issues. This brings together much of what you have learned across the module while encouraging you to think more broadly about the reach and responsibility of design.
By the end of the module, you’ll have developed a richer understanding of design as a creative and critical discipline, driven by the need to make positive social and environmental impact. You’ll also have built experience in applying design across a range of contexts, preparing you for work in areas where design can make a difference.
This module will enable you to:
This module develops design skills that are valuable across a wide range of careers and sectors, whether you work independently or within organisations in the private, public or third sector. You’ll build critical, creative and practical capabilities that can be applied in areas such as technology, health and wellbeing, education, social innovation and environmental work.
As well as developing your understanding of design thinking, you’ll strengthen your ability to frame opportunities, work with others, understand users and support innovation. You’ll also use a capability framework to recognise and develop your own strengths, helping you apply your design skills with confidence across different roles, teams and career paths.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
Additionally, the website includes:
You can study this module on its own or use the credits you gain towards an Open University qualification.
T240 is a compulsory module in our:
T240 is an option module in our:
Design for impact (T240) starts once a year – in October.
It will next start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2033.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
There are no formal entry requirements for this module.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying T240 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
StartEndRegister byEngland fee
03 Oct 202630 Jun 202710 Sep 2026£4,088
Studying with The Open University can boost your employability. OU courses are recognised and respected by employers for their excellence and the commitment they take to complete. They also value the skills that students learn and can apply in the workplace.
Over 30,000 employers have used the OU to develop staff so far. If the module you’ve chosen is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could approach your employer to see if they will sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees.
You can pay part or all of your tuition fees upfront with a debit or credit card when you register for each module.
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
Please note: your permanent address/domicile will affect your fee status and, therefore, the fees you are charged and any financial support available to you. The fee information provided here is valid for modules starting before 31 July 2027. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
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