Course duration:

3 months

Admission Requirements:

This programme is open to students from any discipline and the following entry criteria will normally need to be met:

• A H22 (or equivalent) in an Ordinary Degree in any discipline.
• Candidates without a level 7 qualification must be able to demonstrate sufficient relevant experience to be considered for entry.
• A Personal Statement must be provided by the applicant demonstrating interest or competence in design thinking and or service design.
• Where required, candidates may be shortlisted and required to attend for interview.
• An IELTS of 6.5 (or equivalent) will be requested of non-EU students where deemed appropriate by the HOD. 

Course summary

The Certificate in Designing Innovative Services is a one semester (three months) part-time programme that is designed to provide the knowledge, skills and confidence required to work in the area of service design. The course will introduce the student to design thinking skills and to the key tools and methodologies for development of services.

Department(s)

Accounting & Information Systems

The Certificate in Designing Innovative Services is a one semester (three months) part-time programme that is designed to provide the knowledge, skills and confidence required to work in the area of service design. The course will introduce the student to design thinking skills and to the key tools and methodologies for development of services. 

The industry-focus of the programme coupled with the applied nature of teaching provides a practical bedrock of knowledge and experience which can be used to immediate effect in designing services in any type of organisation. Participants will develop their analysis and design skills.  On completion of this program they will be attractive as potential designers of services across a range of industries.  In particular these skills would be useful for those working within the local government arena where there is established demand.

The programme is structured to support those in full time employment. The first module Seminar Series in Design Thinking will be delivered online weekly.  The second module Design Thinking for Services will have lectures with the theory content delivered online and the workshops will be delivered over 4 Saturdays.  The workshops will be the more practical element of the course requiring students to use the tools and methodologies.  The students will be able to use real world cases from their workplace for the applications of the tools and methodologies. 

The programme will balance real world experience from experienced practitioners in the field who will present on the seminar series with supported learning on practical skills during the workshop sessions.

The seminar series module will use reflective journals for assessment. The other module will require students to write an essay on an aspect of design thinking in service design as well as carry out a significant project in service design incorporating research, analysis and prototype development.  This significant project can be from the student’s own workplace.

Design Thinking for Services

This module aims to provide students with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills to support the execution of a design thinking approach for the design of services. The modules addresses the role of team members, approaches for understanding users, research methods, prototyping, and presentation of findings.

For the academic year 2017/18, semester 1, this module will be taught over 4 Saturdays on:

Day 1: October 8th

Day 2: October 21st 

Day 3: November 4th

Day 4: November 18th

Design Thinking Seminar Series

This module uses an innovative approach to explore the state of the art relating to design thinking from a variety of perspectives. Speakers from diverse organisations will present a series of guest lectures on overarching challenges and students will be tasked with reflecting on integrated problems across societal, environmental and business areas. The module provides students with critical insight into implementing service innovation strategies across a range of service and organisational contexts.

• Application to this course is now closed.
• Programme fee: €1,250.
• A H22 (or equivalent) in an Ordinary Degree in any discipline.
• Candidates without a level 7 qualification must be able to demonstrate sufficient relevant experience to be considered for entry.
• A Personal Statement must be provided by the applicant demonstrating interest or competence in design thinking and or service design.
• Where required, candidates may be shortlisted and required to attend for interview.
• An IELTS of 6.5 (or equivalent) will be requested of non-EU students where deemed appropriate by the HOD.

Ms Catherine Murphy
catherine.murphy@cit.ie
+353 21 433 5920

Dr Fred Creedon
fred.creedon@cit.ie
+353 21 432 6166