Course summary
Design Innovation MSc is a one-year, intensive master’s course designed to equip you with the skills to create impactful product and service solutions – shaping better outcomes for people, places, and the planet. Choose the core MSc or specialise in one of three distinct awards – Healthcare, Materials, or Events – to develop skills in research, design thinking, ideation, collaboration, and digital tools. Throughout the course, you’ll tackle real-world problems, particularly those related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Through both qualitative and quantitative research methods, you’ll identify opportunity gaps and apply sustainable design practices. This interdisciplinary course fosters collaboration, enhancing teamwork and process management skills, as well as deepening your knowledge of business contexts, the circular economy, and prototype evaluation. You will refine your digital skills in UX/UI and product and experience design, utilising AI tools for ideation and design. You will also develop prototyping skills, including 3D printing for real-world testing. Graduates from this forward-thinking master’s course will be highly skilled, ethically driven, and equipped to design sustainable solutions to global challenges. Why study this course at Falmouth? Complex problem solving & innovation: Identifying and solving complex problems using creative design thinking, and evaluating potential solutions. Sustainability & social justice: Applying sustainable design strategies, understanding social-environmental justice, and promoting transformative change aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals Digital & design skills: on the Healthcare and Materials specialisms you will develop proficiency in 2D/3D CAD, UX/UI design software, AI tools, prototyping, and 3D printing Research & critical thinking: Conducting user-centred research, ethical application of research skills, and critical evaluation. Team collaboration & leadership: Developing collaborative leadership, interdisciplinary teamwork, and effective project management skills. Contextual understanding & diversity: Understanding diverse social, cultural, and technological contexts, promoting respect for equality and diversity. Time & resource management: Managing time, resources, and systems while adopting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient approaches.
Modules
Design Innovation MSc is a one-year course that will challenge you to innovate new product and service solutions towards healthier people and planet outcomes. You will develop research, analysis, design thinking, rapid ideation, collaborative working and digital software skills to discover, develop and communicate informed proposals within the context of the product design and service design sectors. You will learn key problem-solving skills through real-world projects that tackle UN Sustainable Development Goal challenges. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods, you will define viable opportunity gaps and employ creative and sustainable design skills to generate design innovations, helping to transform society. Throughout the course, you will engage in practice-based learning rooted in sustainable design that embraces environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Design Innovation: Healthcare MSc focuses on design innovation, enabling you to develop sustainable, ethically informed solutions to healthcare challenges. You will engage in real-world healthcare projects, exploring product-service-system (PSS) models that emphasise holistic user experience design and creative problem-solving. The course is built around practice-based learning, encouraging you to develop research skills that address critical design challenges in clinical, care, and broader health settings. You will gain hands-on experience working alongside healthcare professionals and patients, using trauma-informed practice to enhance your understanding of trust-building in healthcare settings. By investigating inclusive and adaptive design, including Class 1 medical devices, you will explore how to create solutions that meet diverse needs. The course also introduces AI tools, business contexts, and the circular economy to evaluate the real-world viability of your ideas. Ultimately, you'll acquire key expertise in healthcare innovation and sustainable design thinking. Design Innovation: Materials MSc teaches students to harness innovative concepts and methods to address global challenges through material design. Focusing on textiles, biomaterials, flexibles, and circular techno-sphere materials, the course explores sustainable practices and their social impact across various applications, such as wearables, products, and architecture. Students will develop expertise in material innovation, learning to assess opportunities in collaborative and entrepreneurial contexts. The course emphasises iterative design processes, sustainable production techniques, and material science principles, integrating industrial, digital, and craft practices. A central theme, "people and material culture," examines how materials shape society, encouraging students to engage with communities and institutions to foster positive change. Students will also explore "material futures," identifying concepts with social and cultural impact through prototypes and research. Throughout the course, students will build a portfolio of innovative samples and gain key employability skills, including communication, report writing, and entrepreneurial thinking, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Design Innovation: Events MSc fosters interdisciplinary thinking and hybrid mindsets, enabling students to explore creative practices in event-based design. The course includes modules on audience and event management, sustainable practice and event design to evaluate ideas, prototypes, and their real-world potential in the events industry. Students will work closely with potential users of event-related products and services to identify design innovation opportunities. The course provides a collaborative, transdisciplinary learning environment, where students from diverse specialisms - including from Materials and Healthcare - engage in shared projects.
Assessment method
The Design Innovation MSc course incorporates various assessment activities to measure student learning against specific criteria. Formative assessment includes ongoing feedback from tutors and peers through discussions, tutorials, and critiques, helping students recognise strengths and areas for improvement.
Entry requirements
We welcome applications from those with relevant equivalent Level 6 (bachelor’s) qualifications. Our typical applicants hold an undergraduate degree of 2:2 or above, or equivalent experience and a demonstrable interest in the subject. We'll also welcome your application if you have formal or 'certified' learning (such as training courses not run by universities or colleges) or learning from work experience or self-study. This is called Accreditation of Prior Learning that should have been gained within the last five years and be equivalent to the learning outcomes of our minimum entry qualifications. Applicants through Accreditation of Prior Learning using their experience to apply should note there is an application fee for entry with advanced standing or with exemption from specific modules or credit. International applicants who require a student visa to study in the UK must take a recognised language test that is approved and vouched for by the University. Our Applicant Services Team can help with any questions you may have about study visas or suitable language tests.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Provider information
Falmouth University
Woodlane
Falmouth
TR11 4RH