ULMS Electronic Module Catalogue
The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title Design Thinking in Marketing
Code ULMS887
Coordinator Dr RS Ashman
Marketing (ULMS)
Rachel.Ashman@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2023-24 Level 7 FHEQ First Semester 15

Pre-requisites before taking this module (other modules and/or general educational/academic requirements):
 

Modules for which this module is a pre-requisite:
 

Programme(s) (including Year of Study) to which this module is available on a required basis:
 

Programme(s) (including Year of Study) to which this module is available on an optional basis:
 

Teaching Schedule
  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours 10

 10

       5

 25
Timetable (if known)              
Private Study 125
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment
EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)		 % of
final
mark		 Resit/resubmission
opportunity		 Penalty for late
submission		 Notes
Design thinking report. There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is an anonymous assessment.  0    70       
Individual design thinking infographic. There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is an anonymous assessment.  0    30       

Aims

This module aims to provide students with a nuanced and critical understanding of the contemporary marketing environment, enabling them to ‘think in solutions’ when approaching problems of strategic importance to marketing managers and society.

Specifically, the module aims to:

Provide students with an understanding of design thinking, its application to the marketing function and how it can be operationalised;

Enable students to critically evaluate contemporary, research led marketing topics by working with live case studies of impactful and theoretically sophisticated research;

Provide students with the skills to identify how design thinking can be used to create positive change within marketing and society when applied to particularly difficult problems;

Enable students to articulate their ideas through written and visual communications.

Learning Outcomes

(LO1) Students will be able to define design thinking and critically evaluate its role within marketing management in fostering the potential for innovation.

(LO2) Students will have critical awareness of key societal issues, how they relate to research projects and how they link to the marketing function.

(LO3) Students will be able to critically evaluate the relationship design thinking has with marketing strategies of organisations, both profit and non-profit, online and offline.

(LO4) Students will have an in-depth knowledge of marketing theory and how such scholarship can be translated into impactful practice.

(S1) Commercial awareness
Students will develop an awareness of how and why businesses must be consumer centric in the design process. Students will learn from case studies taken directly from the contemporary business environment.

(S2) Ethical awareness
Students will develop an awareness of key issues of great social import and cultivate knowledge of how researchers and businesses can work together to create integrity, fair mindedness, and inclusivity in the marketplace.

(S3) Problem solving
Students will learn how to think in solutions, how to structure and encourage creative thinking and they will gain an understand the design thinking process, where innovation is key.

(S4) Communication skills
Students will be required to produce a written report and a visual infographic offering solutions to a problem.

(S5) IT skills
Students will develop their IT skills in the production of their written and visual assessment.

(S6) Lifelong learning
This module encourages students to develop skills in thinking creatively for innovation which they will carry with them throughout their careers.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

2 hour lecture x 5 weeks
2 hour seminar x 5 weeks
1 hour asynchronous learning x 5 weeks
125 hours self-directed learning

Syllabus
 

Week 1: Marketing and Design Thinking

Week 2: Designing Food Innovation

Week 3: Charity Marketing

Week 4: Serving Vulnerable Consumers

Week 5: Visual and Sensory Marketing

Week 6: Marketing Independence

Recommended Texts
Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.