Two weeks ago, we concluded Trimester 2 of the Design Innovation module at the Singapore Institute of Technology (AY24/25 T2). My class brought together students from Nursing, and from Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering—two programmes with very different training and perspectives.
For their projects, students were asked to choose a workplace, identity the problems faced by its users, and design possible solutions. Their fieldwork took them into healthcare settings, security posts, the housekeeping department of the university, and even canteen vendor operations. Each team had to balance observation, empathy, and practical constraints in order to reimagine everyday systems of work.
Our final session was held in the form of a gallery walk, where students presented their ‘artefacts of the future’ to their peers. It was energising to see how they translated insights into tangible prototypes—sometimes speculative, sometimes pragmatic, but always grounded in the voices of the people they engaged with.
Looking back, what I valued most about this match was how students began to see their own disciplines differently through the lens of design. Whether coming from nursing or naval engineering, they were challenged to step into other people’s lives, and in doing so, they discovered that design innovation is as much about listening and reframing as it is about creating.
