REFLECTING ON THE CHANGING ROLES OF STUDENT DESIGN TEAMS IN GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECTS

This study explores how industrial design students in China take on the dual roles of designer and user in a student-led curriculum, the study is based on the first student-led global project at a Chinese university. This paper describes the project content and process of the course to determine the roles and tasks that students take on at different times. Secondly, a case study is conducted on the design projects completed by the student design teams. Finally, the student interviews are analyzed. The research indicates that students have a strong interest in the design courses of different cultural backgrounds, but they often find it difficult to switch roles, from designer to a client. The reason should be that students have fuzzy cognition and different understanding of the concept of clients and designers.