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Design Innovation
The Master of Design: Design Innovation (MDes) program at MassArt is a full-time, two-year (60 credit hours) graduate program that prepares the next generation of innovators to lead organizational and social transformation at corporations, nonprofits, educational institutions, and entrepreneurial ventures.
Academic Programs
Graduate Programs in Design Innovation (MDes)
Emphasizing four key skill areas (empathy, analysis, contextual understanding, and communication), the curriculum is designed to teach students how to effectively define and solve a problem, and to impart critical leadership skills for mobilizing and motivating teams toward successful outcomes.
Our interdisciplinary approach trains students to identify underlying problems, develop actionable solutions, and make strategic business decisions within the context of real-world economic, social, and environmental challenges.
In addition to its core MassArt faculty, the Design Innovation program hosts a leading group of talented and pioneering professionals each semester as visiting lecturers. Classes are co-taught by design and business professors in a fully integrated, collaborative teaching model.
Featured Faculty
Additional Features
MDES STUDENT ARTICLES ON DESIGN INNOVATION
Read stories and perspectives from the MDes students and faculty in MassArt’s Design Innovation program. View their posts on Medium.
Prototyping - Let's Put Those Insights to Work - Shailee Rindani '18 MDes
mdes bootcamp & Activities
Every fall, MDES Bootcamp brings Design Innovation students and faculty together for intensive training and team-building exercises. During the retreat, students work in leadership and supporting roles on developing and proposing solutions to a variety of challenges. Faculty introduce a set of specific problems for the group to address during bootcamp, and the community engages with the issues from the perspective of potential clients, while also considering more global and theoretical lenses. The themes explored at Bootcamp are then carried throughout the year, as students continue to collaborate and strategize together during a range of group projects.
MDes Bootcamp 2019, Photo by Divya Mangadu '20 MDes
