01
Design Studies
Minor in
Design Studies:
Design Studies:
Learn design thinking and create solutions for the Common Good.
Courses complement every field of study, with the opportunity to complete the 18-credit Design Studies Minor.
Courses for exploration &
deeper practice.
deeper practice.
Courses for exploration.
Minor for deeper practice.
Minor for deeper practice.
Design Studies gives every Boston College student access to design-thinking methods—and provides the structured academic home for completing the Design Minor.
Students can begin with an individual course or pursue the full 18-credit minor. Rooted in ethical reflection and the common good, both paths develop a practical way to understand people and systems, frame complex problems, explore possibilities, make ideas tangible, and learn through evidence.
Start with a course
Explore design thinking without changing a major.
complete the minor
Build a coherent, transcript-recognized course of study.
carry it forward
Graduate with projects, portfolio evidence, and a transferable process.
Five modes.
Continuous learning.
Continuous learning.
Students move back and forth between inquiry and action. Every test can reveal a better question; every decision is considered in relation to people, planet, consequences, and the common good.
01 / NOTICE
Empathize
Learn from people, context, lived experience, and connected systems.
02 / FOCUS
Frame
Synthesize findings into actionable insights and strategic opportunities.
03 / EXPAND
Imagine
Brainstorm diverse, wild, and innovative concepts without constraints.
04 / PROTOTYPE
Make
Build rapid, tangible representations of ideas to test and learn.
05 / PROTOTYPE
Test & reflect
Gather feedback, evaluate impact, and refine the solution iteratively.
01 / NOTICE
Observe
Learn from people, context, lived experience, and connected systems.
02 / FOCUS
Frame
Synthesize findings into actionable insights and strategic opportunities.
03 / EXPAND
Imagine
Brainstorm diverse, wild, and innovative concepts without constraints.
04 / PROTOTYPE
Make
Build rapid, tangible representations of ideas to test and learn.
05 / PROTOTYPE
Test & reflect
Gather feedback, evaluate impact, and refine the solution iteratively.
PEOPLE
PLANET
CONSEQUENCES
Foundation.
Practice.
Application.
Practice.
Application.
The 18-credit minor combines a clear progression with electives from across Boston College, allowing students to connect design methods to their academic interests and future work.
01
Foundation
3 Credits
Learn core practices of observation, framing, ideation, prototyping, testing, and reflection.
3 Credits
02
Intermediate
3 Credits
Deepen the process through human-centered research, robotics, interaction design, visual storytelling, or engineering.
3 Credits
03
Advanced
3 Credits
Apply design to complex social, organizational, technological, or ecological challenges.
3 Credits
04
Electives
9 Credits
Shape the minor around sustainability, social impact, architecture, technology, visual communication, or entrepreneurship.
9 Credits
Courses that
make the process concrete.
make the process concrete.
Browse representative courses by level. Each course page can carry a current description, learning outcomes, faculty information, prerequisites, semester availability, and an accessible syllabus.
Intermediate
Interaction Design
This course is an introduction to the design and development of interactive media, artifacts, products, and services. Interaction design dynamically combines a number of disciplines, including art, engineering, design, and...
3 CREDITS |
Interaction Design
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to the design and development of interactive media, artifacts, products, and services. Interaction design dynamically combines a number of disciplines, including art, engineering, design, and social science in order to understand and create meaningful and engaging experiences for people. Topics include aesthetics, design ethics, user-experience and user interface design, sustainability, and human factors. Students will conduct research and work iteratively, utilizing sketching, prototyping, and fabrication as a means of refining their design and improving their craft as well as become familiar with industry-standard prototyping programs and applications through hands-on projects.
COURSE #
UNAS 2300
ARTS 2300
ARTS 2300
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Th 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Hayden Hall
Intermediate
Design Research Methods and Implementation
How do insights drive impact? This undergraduate course explores how design research supports the implementation of ideas within real-world systems such as organizations, communities, and services. Students learn human-centered research...
3 CREDITS |
Design Research Methods and Implementation
COURSE DESCRIPTION
How do insights drive impact? This undergraduate course explores how design research supports the implementation of ideas within real-world systems such as organizations, communities, and services. Students learn human-centered research approaches including ethnographic research, co-design, and participatory design methods to understand peoples experiences and needs in context, and work collaboratively to translate insights into ideas that can be tested, adapted, and implemented in practice. Emphasis is placed on qualitative research, shared inquiry, and reflective practice, and on how systems, constraints, and coordination shape feasibility, ethics, and impact across education, healthcare, technology, policy, and community settings. Prerequisite: (UNAS1025 or ARTS1125 or ENGR1025) or ENGR1801 or HIST1627 or ENGR1026).
COURSE #
UNAS 2301
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
M/W 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM, Hayden Hall
Applied Design for the Common Good
COURSE DESCRIPTION
COURSE #
UNAS 4301
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Not offered spring 2027
Advanced Visual Storytelling and Information Design
COURSE DESCRIPTION
COURSE #
UNAS 3309
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Not offered spring 2027
Design Thinking and Implementation Science Project
COURSE DESCRIPTION
COURSE #
UNAS 4302
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Not offered spring 2027
Electives
Ethical Design for Social Impact
What makes design ethical? By exploring the real-world factors and practical circumstances in which design emerges, this course will consider the ethics of how people make and rely on the...
3 CREDITS |
Ethical Design for Social Impact
COURSE DESCRIPTION
What makes design ethical? By exploring the real-world factors and practical circumstances in which design emerges, this course will consider the ethics of how people make and rely on the products and services that shape our experience of the modern world. Our examination of theoretical approaches to designs social impacts, our discussion of case studies that illuminate designs role in the pursuit of social justice, and our reflections on our own responsibility to design things ethically will provide a comprehensive picture of the conditions that both catalyze and thwart ethical design. Students will leave this course with concrete ideas for how they might play consequential roles in developing ethical designs that positively impact society.
COURSE #
UNCP 4604
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
T/Th 4:30 PM – 5:45 PM, Hayden Hall
Electives
Graphic Design
This course is an immersive project-based introductory overview of concepts, contexts, tools, and techniques useful in solving a wide range of contemporary design problems, including logos, business cards, propaganda posters,...
3 CREDITS |
Graphic Design
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an immersive project-based introductory overview of concepts, contexts, tools, and techniques useful in solving a wide range of contemporary design problems, including logos, business cards, propaganda posters, multi-page documents, data visualizations, web page designs, app wireframes, and proposals for site-specific graphics. Beyond the necessary focus on software, including Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, the course will incorporate discussion and application of typography, color theory and other 2D design concepts affecting how subject matter is perceived. Students will solve problems on behalf of themselves and choose one or more other clients whom they’ll strive to serve.
COURSE #
ARTS 2250
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
T 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Devlin Hall
Electives
Designing Space: Rhino 3-D
The computer is one of myriad facilitators of the output of intellectual design ideas, but is by no means a creator of digital design content. This course begins with that...
3 CREDITS |
Designing Space: Rhino 3-D
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The computer is one of myriad facilitators of the output of intellectual design ideas, but is by no means a creator of digital design content. This course begins with that notion and will work as a hybrid: equal parts digital skills workshop – where software skills are tested and evaluated -- and artist’s atelier – where design ideas, both articulated and ineffable, seek meaningful expression.
Course content will draw from the fields of art, photography, film, graphic design, industrial design and architecture. In addition to works of two dimensions, this course will explore the translation from digital design to physical object.
COURSE #
ARTS 3335
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Idea Work: Making Things That Matter
COURSE DESCRIPTION
COURSE #
MGMT 2143
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
Not offered spring 2027
Electives
Design-Driven Innovation Consulting
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of design-driven innovation and how to consult and advise organizations that want to grow and differentiate themselves in the market. This includes...
3 CREDITS |
Design-Driven Innovation Consulting
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of design-driven innovation and how to consult and advise organizations that want to grow and differentiate themselves in the market. This includes a broad overview of the approach, process and methods of design thinking, agile product development and lean start-up.
COURSE #
MGMT 2144
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
M 4:30 PM – 6:50 PM, Fulton Hall
Electives
Social Impact and Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship brings innovative market-based solutions to tackle problems in education, healthcare, housing, recycling, economic development, and sustainable water and energy supply. A commitment to measurable outcomes in line with...
3 CREDITS |
Social Impact and Entrepreneurship
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Social entrepreneurship brings innovative market-based solutions to tackle problems in education, healthcare, housing, recycling, economic development, and sustainable water and energy supply. A commitment to measurable outcomes in line with mission needs to be combined with: customer orientation, design thinking, analysis of competitive landscapes, agility to adapt to external trends, and building strategic partnerships to leverage scarce resources.Open to students from all majors. Focuses on skill development. Includes case studies to evaluate social enterprises in US and internationally using a range of business models. Students will develop pitches and business plans for their own social venture ideas.
COURSE #
MGMT 2139
CREDITS
3
DETAILS
W 1:30 PM – 3:50 PM, Campion Hall
Apply for a Minor in Design Studies
Curriculum, courses, student outcomes and how to apply.
Design-driven processes
changing how students see.
changing how students see.
Hear from students helping shape the Design Commons Collective.
Andrew Fonticoba
CLASS OF 2028
“[Having] no previous experience with design, I’ve learned to be a lot more open-minded about what I can do. I learned a lot about myself, [especially] how I can express myself in ways I didn’t know before.
“
Meg Fabian
CLASS OF 2028
“Before this program, design was just something that lived in art museums. The biggest takeaway for me is that design is something that is living and in everything we do and interact with”
Lauren Heinzelman
CLASS OF 2026
“I’m a double major between studio art and engineering, [but] my design realm never really ventured into asking why things are done. This experience was an expansion of skills I was previously using.”
Program Leadership
Hear from students helping shape the Design Commons Collective.
Carissa Henriques
Director of design Studies
ABOUT
Carissa Henriques is a designer and maker whose work involves place and placemaking, expressive/experimental typography, and experience design. Her work delves into design’s social role, including its ability to foster inclusive communities through collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to making and storytelling.
CONTACT
henrica@bc.edu
Sunand Bhattacharya
Associate Vice Provost for Design and Innovation
ABOUT
Sunand Bhattacharya is the Associate Vice Provost for Design and Innovation Strategies.
His office is tasked to help build a future-forward culture of collaborative research and innovation across Boston College using design-driven methodologies
CONTACT
bhattacharya@bc.edu
Bring a major. Add a process for problems without obvious answers.
Browse representative courses by level. Each course page can carry a current description, learning outcomes, faculty information, prerequisites, semester availability, and an accessible syllabus.
View pillar 02
Design in Research
