Undergraduate

Undergraduate students can pursue an education in design and get involved in a variety of ways, including a formal design minor.

Design Minor

The minor focuses on design as a way of thinking, one based on an iterative cycle of field observation, problem finding, and evaluating alternative solutions and tradeoffs by prototyping and testing. The primary objective of the minor is to enable students from any division and major to diversify their studies and incorporate design thinking skills into their academic experience.

To receive a minor in design:

•  A student must complete at least 28 units from the list of required courses below, of which 20 must be upper division.
• All courses must be taken for a letter grade with at least a "C-" earned in each one, with the exception of Design 119, 195, and 199, which are offered only as pass/not pass (P/NP).

Lower-Division Requirements

Take:

•  DSGN 1: Design of Everyday Things (4)

AND choose one from this group:

•  COGS 10: Cognitive Consequences of Technology (4)
• COMM 10: Introduction to Communication (4)
• MAE 3: Introduction to Engineering Graphics and Design (4)
• VIS 30: Introduction to Speculative Design (4)

Upper-Division Requirements

Choose one of the Studio Sequences*:

• Cognitive Design: 
  • COGS 102B: Cognitive Ethnography (4), and
    COGS 102C: Cognitive Design Studio (6)
• Critical Design: 
  • COMM 124A: Critical Design Practice/Advanced Studio (4),and

COMM 124B: Critical Design Practice/Topic Studio (4)

• Design for Development: 
  • ENG 100D: Design for Development (4), and
    ENG 100L: Design for Development Lab (2)
• Interaction Design: 
  • COGS 120: Interaction Design (5), and
    COGS 121: Human Computer Interaction Portfolio Design Studio (4)
• Information Design: 
  • COGS 187A: Usability and Information Architecture (4), and
    COGS 187B: Practicum in Professional Web Design (4)
• Speculative Design (any of the following pairs): 
  • VIS 100: Introduction to Public Culture (4), and
    VIS 100A: Design of Public Culture (4) 
  • VIS 101: Introduction to Urban Ecologies (4), and
    VIS 101A: Designing Urban Ecologies (4)
  • VIS 142: Practices in Computing Arts (4), and
    VIS 148: Visualizing Art Practice (4)

AND take:

•  DSGN 100: Prototyping (4)
• DSGN 119: Design@Large (2)
  • DSGN 119 may be taken more than once to meet the minimum units requirement.

AND take one upper division elective course from the following approved design courses:

• Design
  • DSGN 118: Design for Future Creativity and Productivity (4)
  • DSGN160: Special Topics in Design (4)
  • DSGN195: Instructional Apprenticeship in Design (4)
  • DSGN199: Independent Project (2 or 4)
• Cognitive Science
  • COGS 102A: Sensation and Perception (4)
  • COGS 102B: Learning, Memory, and Attention (4)
  • COGS: 122: Start-up Studio (4)
  • COGS: 123: Social Computing (4)
• Communication
  • COMM 100A: Communication, the Person, and Everyday Life (4)
  • COMM 100B: Communication, Culture, and Representation (4)
  • COMM 100C: Communication, Institutions, and Power (4)
• Computer Science and Engineering
  • CSE 110: Software Engineering (4)
  • CSE 118: Ubiquitous Computing (4)
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • MAE 154: Product Design and Entrepreneurship (4)
• Rady School of Management
  • MGT 103: Product Marketing and Management (4)
  • MGT 121A: Innovation to Market A (4)
• Psychology
  • PSYC 148: Psychology of Judgment and Decision (4)
  • PSYC 176: Creativity (4)
• Visual Arts
  • VIS 100A: Design of Public Culture (4)
  • VIS 135: Design Research Methods (4)
  • VIS 159: History of Art and Technology (4)
  • VIS 161: Systems and Networks at Scale (4)
  • VIS 162: Speculative Science and Design Invention (4)
  • VIS 163: Design Research and Criticism (4)

* Additional Studio Sequences courses may be taken as electives once the initial Studio Sequence requirement has been satisfied.

By Petition

Because the design minor is new, growing, and broadly useful, we are actively adding both studio sequences and electives to promote relevance for students pursuing majors across campus. Students may request substitutions of appropriate courses from their major, if the course fulfills the intent of an existing course within the minor. 

No substitution for DSGN 1 or DSGN 100 will be allowed.

The following courses are already evaluated and planned for inclusion in the next update to the design minor. Petitions to substitute them in the minor as specified will routinely be approved:

• SE 3: Graphical Communication for Engineering Design (4) in place of MAE 3
• COGS 127: Data-Driven UX/Product Design (4) in place of COGS 120
• ECE 140A+B as a studio sequence
• BIMM 101 and BICD 145 as a studio sequence
• USP 177A+B as a studio sequence
• BENG 187A-D as a studio sequence
• MGT 108R: Applied Market Research (4) as an upper division elective

Submit your petition via the CogSci Advising system. Be sure to indicate whether it is from the pre-evaluated list above, or provide a detailed rationale for the substitution along with a syllabus for the proposed substitute course.