By Olena Lavrova from Kiev, Misto Kyyiv 5 months ago Completed

This course was a very exciting experience for me. Professor Ulrich is in love with what he is doing. That shows in every step of the course - the structure, thematic & length of lectures, the optional videos & tutorials, the links to interesting & useful web sites. And that prof. has not only very deep knowledge & passion for the subject, but also very broad practical experience, which he generously shares with the students makes the course even more valuable. Im not a designer, but I did find that taking this course was a useful & inspiring journey.

By Nathalia Fernandes from Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 5 months ago Completed

I loved the course ! It helped a lot in college. The way the subject is taught is really good, and easy to inderstan. But what I though is that you should know the basic of design or at leat know how to use some design tools.

By sushanthgula from Jodhpur, Rajasthan 5 months ago Completed

Prof. Karl T. Ulrich an amazing teacher. I have joined the course to learn some thing about design but what i have learnt is far better and more important in life. It is "how to solve problems in a better and efficient way". He gave us a direction to follow. thank you coursera for introducing a wonderful person to us. thank you.

By Kassia Graham from Brooklyn, New York 5 months ago Completed

This is the first online course I've taken and I must say I am pretty impressed. Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society is a great crash course in design for beginners, or those who're already in the design field in a non-designer role. In general the class is great for people who want to be better problem solvers.

As someone who's considering going back to school to obtain a masters in industrial design the class was very helpful with regards to getting my critical thinking, and creative juices flowing again.

Professor Ulrich is very engaging, and it's very easy to see he lives, sleeps, and eats product design! I felt challenged every week but loved every minute of it.

The only issue I had with the class was the amount of time it took to address, and correct technical errors. However, I believe that was more of a Coursera issue.

I highly recommend this class!

By Yvonne Malone from Downers Grove, Illinois 5 months ago Completed

This is my first online class and it far, far, far exceeded by expectations. While I miss the face-to-face interaction with classmates and professors of a traditional course, this class was so well presented (lectures, additional readings, homework, etc.), I was so motivated. Professor Ulrich is a wonderful teacher and is so sharing with ideas, examples, and resources. I do not have a formal design background although I have been a marketing and strategy consultant for years. I now see there are parallels between the two fields and why I truly enjoy both. From the beginning of this class I have applied some of the learnings to my small business client situations. I have recommended this course to many and am looking forward to future Coursera classes. I would love to take a follow up to this class with Professor Ulrich. Thank you.

By Soldatenko Denis from Tallinn, Harjumaa 5 months ago Completed

"— Oh, course just f*&king great! OH, GREAT! You know what course is? You know what course is?
— Great?
— Course just f*&king great!"
Seven psychopats

That's true. Course is really great. If you are a really good, or even awesome designer, you shouldn't take it. If not, this course can provide you a huge step forward of being a better designer.

How?

Have you ever seen work progress of some really good designer? Tonnes of paper sheets, hundreds of concepts, lots of different schemes and signs. This course will explain, what that is. Moreover, just after this course you will turn into this designer.

Because design is not really about talent/gift. It is all about thinking and doing. The more you think, the more you need to structure all this information. And prof. Ulrich, the teacher of this course, will give you an exact algorithm you should follow to do outstanding designs.

His explanations are very easy to understand. He gives us a key to design process. Once you've got it, you will never be the same :)

By Edith Miller from Sacramento, California 5 months ago Completed

This is my first experience with Coursera.org. I very much enjoyed the lectures, the projects and the evaluation setup. The course was more time demanding than I was expecting but not unreasonable. Karl Ulrich presented a very organized, and informative course from which I was able to take away many valuable tools for future design work. The way he shared his personal successes, projects that weren't so successful, and works in progress, made the course not only interesting but encouraging. I highly recommend this course.

By VKnutsen from Chicago, Illinois 5 months ago Completed

I like the short video segments - usually 1-2 main concepts taught per a couple minute segment. (What's good also is that most had English subtitles--so you can watch/listen to it at low volume if others are in the room). I typically set my video player at faster speed, put on subtitles and low volume, and then was able to understand and process these couple-minute yet informative videos.

It's better if you have a little background in some kind of design, but you can still get through it if you don't. (They could offer more visuals on how to do the orthographic drawing part...I had learned a little ortho drawing previously---that segment would have been much harder without my previous learning.)
The course is intense...notably as you approach the end, where you must submit a designed "artifact". Persons new to the industrial/web/creative design process should do a simpler project...in order to handle all the steps.

The Prof has various helpful links which can help you generate a product/process name - decide what features of your proposed "artifact" should be emphasized - and get feedback from others on the quality of your artifact...

Am fully expecting to hear a news report that some former DESIGN students have successfully put a product (or process) out there on the market because of what they learned in this class about design...!

By Alexander 5 months ago Completed

This course was everything I expected and more. It's a very hands-on approach on design and demands effort and work by students. Personally I had to get out of my comfort zone, since creating artifacts was not something I was accustomed to, but this is how I learned how to work more on my ideas and what it takes to turn an idea into reality. Highly recommended course, the professor is very charismatic.

By Sasha Seliverstova from Brussels, Brussels Capital Region 5 months ago Completed (Partially)

Taking this course was an amazing experience for me. I already took 2 courses before on Coursera and I also enjoyed them, but the Design of Artifacts was something special.
The whole course was designed very well, lectures were easy to understand even for non-native speakers, interesting and really innovative. Actually every time I was watching Karl's video I felt that I am listening to his lecture in person.
I think that assignement load and evaluation were pretty fair. For this course peer evaluation works well, while for some others don't.
Sometimes assignments were a little bit tricky,but challenging and always interesting to do.
I would definitely reccomend this course and if ever there will be another course from Karl Urlich then you will see my name on its list for sure:)
Thank you!

By A. P. from Brisbane, Queensland 5 months ago Completed

Fantastic course!! Prof Ulrich is very engaging and generous to offer this course. I now see the world a little differently after learning about design! I highly recommend it to anyone with a general curiosity in design or entrepreneurship. Bravo!

By Christine Wilson from Stuart, Florida 5 months ago Completed

Karl Ulrich is a fantastic educator and motivator. This course was fun, challenging and wonderfully helpful. It taught me a different approach to problem solving and also to be more observant of the things around me that are well crafted or could use improvement. I strongly recommend this class to anyone who is pursuing a path of greater creative thought in everyday life.

By Duncan Murray from Adelaide, South Australia 5 months ago Completed

Highly recommend this course to anyone interested in design (of any field). The course is quite practical and you will need to work to complete the homework and assignments, but it gives good techniques on the design process.
Karl is an interesting lecturer and it is also a lot of fun - you get to practice drawing [chairs], and get to design whatever you like as a final project.

Personally, I would have like a little bit more on specific techniques on designing 'well' - what colours match, ergonomics - but realise this is much more than can be achieve in a single course (would love to see a design 2 course)

By Diane Callahan from Seattle, Washington 5 months ago Completed

This course is well worth taking if you have an interest in truly learning what it means to be a designer. I appreciate that this course gives students practical tools for becoming a designer and improving skills for those already in the business. Be forewarned: this class takes a significant amount of time if you take on the assignments with the expectation that you will really create a useful artifact. You will also likely spend some money developing prototypes.

By Duilio Passariello from Madrid, Madrid 5 months ago Completed (Partially)

This course demonstrates that education is the key to success and that a good teacher is better than a great institution. Creation of Artifacts in Society from Warton is an engaging MOOC that can give a lot to anyone seriously following the course; whether a beginner or a trained designer like myself. In 5 week I could feel I have made a substantial progress in the understanding of my role and of the logic behind what I do; as a result I have become a better professional and my clients will be better served by the kind of work I'll be doing from now on.

My engagement with the course is in great part due to the meaningful way of transmitting the essence of what professor Ulrich is trying to convey. I'm sure there are lots of us out there experiencing the same sense of understanding of the subject that previously felt either the result of inherent talent or a highly codified system of processes.

The work of professor Ulrich is excellent and his teaching skills convey the concepts behind the logic of design with explicit videos, a good text to follow and a powerful and convincing method to teach on-line. The exercises provided and the sequence of their development make it very engaging for us. I'm personally studying with the book courteously provided by the course and will look forward to purchase his best seller Product Design and Development.

A true gift to society, this wonderful initiative from the University of Pennsylvania and Professor Ulrich should continue over the years. It is a real demonstration of a deep desire to move towards an even greater influence in society and give access to high level knowledge to people like me all around the world. What a hand pick of universities in the US are doing is compelling and demonstrates clearly their desire to create a better tomorrow, today.

Thanks a lot

Duilio Passariello
passariello@light-plus.com

By Bianca Verderosi from Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 2 months ago Completed

This was (and still is) my firt course on Coursera. I really enjoyed it and found the Professor very patient and didactic. Bringing ideas, comments and having to evaluate others work was the most amazing thing of this method of learning a exchanging. At first, before starting, without knowing how it would be, I was in doubt of the effectiveness of the classes, but they were very informative and could bring more wisdom to my problems solving.

By Gida Darling from Moss Vale, New South Wales 4 months ago Completed

I loved the Creation of Artifacts in Society course! Karl was delightful and made the course content easy to understand and fun. My daughter & I signed up for the course together and while she completed it on time, I got too busy to finish it on time, so the great thing about Coursera is that despite the fact that I couldn't complete the course in the allotted time frame, I still have access to the course content, so I have used my Christmas break to complete the course in the time that I actually have available. Fantastic! Also, I've tried some other online courses - the video tutorials are really user friendly, better than any other format I've tried. And even though Karl wouldn't know me from Adam, I still feel like I had some kind of interaction with him which is similar to having access to a real teacher. (Was fun to see him in the context of his work & family life which made the experience at my end feel quite natural). Well done Karl, thanks so much.

By Vanya Markova from Barcelona, Catalonia 4 months ago Completed

This course has been very useful. It´s obvious that Karl Ulrich is passionate about design and he has been able to transmit this passion during the course. He gives us an incredible insight into product-/service-development processes. Karl Ulrich also shares a lot of his personal experience on the field and, given his exit and broad activities as a designer and professor, this gives the course a special added value. To cut it short, this course is useful, interesting and fun. I absolutely recommend it.

By Sierra Allen from Providencia, San Jose, Costa Rica 4 months ago Completed

Excellent course, a great example of the power of open online education. Engaging, creative and personable professor. Minimal pressure and maximal learning. Very hands on and well put together. Anyone interested in design in any way would benefit from taking this course.

By Inna Makhlai from Kyiv, Ukraine 5 months ago Completed

Course " Creation of Artifacts in Society" is the best and Karl Ulrich very good teacher. I didn't expect that this course will be so understandable and useful. I'd like to pass similar course more deep or with different nuances.

By Diana Balasanyan 5 months ago Completed

I would never believe it would ever be possible for me to learn Design before this course! But Professor Ulrich and his assistant made it possible even for such dummies as myself. The Visual Expression videos are just amazing, I wish there were more. And the rest of the video lectures are so well structured and carefully arrnaged that even if you know nothing about Design, you can still score 95%! Of course I am not a designer now, but I am better designer than I was before taking the course, and besides, it gave me some very inspiring insights on marketing, branding and other subjects. Thank you Professor Ulrich and staff!!!

By Yvonne Toft from Yeppoon, Queensland 5 months ago Completed

Love the passion!!!! Ultimately for me the Coursera platform let you (me) down as I was not able to submit Week 3/4 assignment but still managed to complete the course ... As a fellow design teacher ... hats off to you .... Love your work Prof. Ulrich, your passion for the subject matter reigned supreme! I would thoroughly recommend this course!!!

By Pedro Cazu from Mexico City, The Federal District 5 months ago Completed

This course was incredible. Even when it's not my area of expertise kept me engaged every week. I learned many things. It's a shame to have such a short duration.
Highly recommended.
Thanks

By Angela 5 months ago Completed

Videos were engaging. Graded work included technical skills (mostly drawing), and a project that was cumulative from week to week. It would have been nice to have feedback from each week before the next assignment needed to be submitted. Peer grading was required but the rubric was not always clear.

By Adele from Richmond, Virginia 5 months ago Completed (Partially)

I was looking for an art related course. This was not really what I was looking for, but it turned out to be very related to my job as a project manager. I am very happy that I took the course, but I think more information up front about what the course would be beneficial.
I loved the feedback on other students. It really helped me to see what others were doing. It would have been nice to be able to tag certain students to be able to follow them to the next step and provide optional additional feedback on projects I was very interested in.
My only frustration was in easily seeing the status of my homework. It could be more informative as to whether it was submitted, or in progress or not started. I ended up missing the last assignment due to confusion about what the deadline was.

By Ma Cecilia Gendrano from Quezon City, National Capital Region 5 months ago Completed

Learn an effective and systematic approach to design, from problem characterization to branding in a fun and interesting way; and with a good balance of practical and theoretical approaches. I'm glad to have joined and looking forward to future (advance) related courses.

By Milica Dimitrova from Burgas, Burgas 5 months ago Completed

Perfect! I'm really satisfied with this course! This was my first online course but I really enjoyed the classes. They were helpful for me. Thank you, Prof. Ulrich!

By Raitis Linde from Riga 5 months ago Completed

This was my first online course experience, and I am surprised how much I've learned. I'd compare this experience to my master's studies in design.

I liked how clearly professor Ulrich explained the essence of design. I completely agree that design first and foremost is about solving a problem not merely creating decorations. For me, this definitely was an interesting perspective on design.

1.
One thing that lacked in this course was somebody that would push me beyond my comfort zone. I am desigining web & mobile applications at work, so I wish I picked something else for the course project not a mobile application.

2.
In addition, I would have appreciated if there would be more thorough peer feedback for homeworks. I tried to be very explicit when giving my review in terms of suggestions and reasoning behind the grades I gave. I wished more people would give useful and constructive critique for my submissions. Maybe along with grades, that we receive for homeworks, there could be an indicator showing how much time peers have spent reading our work? Or perhaps there could be a feature that would force us, evaluators to write well-considered comments or to spend a certain amount of time on analysing somebody elses work?

By Arindam Choudhury from Kolkata 5 months ago Completed

Prof.Karl with his engineering precision of mind designed the course content and presented to us in a lucid manner.
Customized for both professionals and beginners
This course is different what I expected. It is not just a design course- in fact more than that.From a basic Perspective drawing to 3 D modelling, design, manufacturing and branding- Prof Karl created a continuous flow which meets an oracle of Necessity.

By Gerard Jerry Vongotti Martinez from Miami, Florida 5 months ago Completed

this course was very fun actually, easy, its basically my element of understanding because everything we did is basically something i know i can do and know how to do. what it did for me was to magnify my skills on design, it made me realize how much people want or don't want something, when i see products know i wonder all that went through for the people to make that, it basically gives you a different outlook or aspects on stuff. this course is pretty recommended for anyone who wants to do this type of stuff, its fun but i only recommend it to the people who really want to design and do product design or at least have a background in some sort of design.

By Anonymus 5 months ago Completed

I liked the work lectures and examples throughout the period of course. The assignments were reasonable and will get you to work on your design and give a direction.

By OdilonJunior from Vila Velha, Espirito Santo 5 months ago Completed

I really enjoyed his classes, it's easy to understand, it's gave me a new view on the design process, it's worth to do those classes. Thanks for the classes Prof. Karl.

By Suley from Atlanta, Georgia 5 months ago Completed

Bottom line: I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed on because I had never participated in a free online course before. The topics were well chosen to provide a fairly broad introduction to designing artifacts. It helped me view a couple of projects that I was working on at work from a different perspective, and in fact to improve my approach. On improving the course: I would sometimes wonder if all of the international students understood all the American references. Those that have never traveled to the U.S. could find Dr. Ulrich's honorable, but fleeting, explanation of an American "ism" confusing. This would lead to them losing something in the translation and potentially dropping the course because of a lack of understanding. It would be a good idea to those certain words and pictures available to be clicked on for further explanation. Perhaps the link would send the person to a wicki page or something of that nature, where they could satisfy their curiosity and feel better about their comprehension of the topic. The assigned tasks took just enough of my time (I have a full time challenging job), yet engaged me in a stimulating and challenging manner. Dr. Ulrich, thanks for the time and effort you put in to creating this course.

By Janice 5 months ago Completed

All of the reviews say that this is a great course for beginning designers, for experienced designers.... well, it is also a great course for Grandmothers! The quality of my submissions did not equal my talented co-students, but their support and my efforts expanded my horizons greatly! I will watch for the course to come around again, and I will take it again. It is great to have an opportunity to learn something new. You do not have to have a design background to gain from this course! Go for it!
No prerequisites required.

By Agata Morka 5 months ago Completed

absolutely splendid. you learn a lot, the assignments are demanding, yet fun to do. the absolute star of the lectures is Ulrich Junior:)

By isaac from San Jose 5 months ago Completed

Great way to keep on track with design, if you are a designer, it clarifies the process, if you are not, it is a nice way to get an insight or to start as a designer.

By Nancy La Re from Key West, Florida 5 months ago Completed

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and want to THANK Coursera for providing the opportunity to receive instruction from such an inspiring and engaging teacher as Professor Ulrich. Many of us would never be able to attend a prestigious institution such as the University of Pennsylvania due to financial constraints and work/family obligations. As an Art Teacher for Elementary/Middle School children, I hope to use the Elements of Design learned in this course in many aspects of my classes. I have already shared some of the "ice cream scoop" videos with my AfterSchool Art Enrichment Program and they LOVED them! I hope that Professor Ulrich will offer other classes in the future. My only regret is not having the opportunity to meet him (and my very talented "classmates") face-to-face!

By Shreyas Reddy from Bath, Somerset 5 months ago Completed

A well-designed course that had plenty to offer for both experienced designers and absolute beginners. It emphasised a methodology aimed at finding gaps in our everyday lives and finding solutions to fit them. By incorporating a practical (often physical) aspect to realising the chosen solutions, it also helped give a grounding in the real world aspect of designing new artifacts (and potentially turning them into commercial products). The lectures were well-structured and the quality was at a high level all the way through.

By Rachel Maguire from Galway 5 months ago Completed

I loved this course! It was my first ever online course so the first few weeks the learning curve was quite steep for me; but fantastic and challenging. Weeks 3-8 were very enjoyable; I had really settled into it and started participating with the forums and asking questions. I found it amazing that when I asked about technical issue (ie converting files etc) I got over 80 helpful responses.
The video lectures by Professor Karl T. Ulrich were just perfect. I found I could concentrate on them easily and they really helped not just with the design projects; but with life! I am very thankful that I had this opportunity it was so flexible, fun, educational and useful..

By Alejandro Lanza from San Jose 5 months ago Completed

Fantastic course, even if already have design experience. I took 3 years of architecture and i feel this course clarified many things that were never obvious to me while attending a 'real' university. Especially in terms of the approach to design, how to structure the creative process and ensure as much as possible that it meets the needs of the final users, this was just a very well put together course.

By Alexis Benavides Mariño from Puebla, Puebla 5 months ago Completed

Wow... just wow, I study industrial design and for me this was awesome. Karl T. Ulrich is a amazing teacher. I could understand every single topic. Thank you, for everything. I feel more involved in my career now. I highly recommend this.

By shirley chen from Nyon, Vaud 5 months ago Completed

As a Product Manager in computer industry over a decade, I find the course useful and engaging. The course is very well designed. It guides you through the design cycle even if you don't have any previous training or design background.

I like the videos which allows you to take small bites if you don't have a whole hour. The weekly assignments really get me on the toes. I find it engaging and super fun.

If you're signing up for this course, I would suggest you get yourself surrounded by an online community, which bridges the gap of lacking the interaction from your peers. I am part of the discussion forum and also a facebook page. The amount of energy and passion from fellow students are extremely positive and supportive.

The professor really spent time and thoughts in designing the course accommodating levels of needs by offering extra readings and videos. Bravo!

By Gerrit Niezen from Swansea, Wales 5 months ago Completed

In this course you get to make stuff with your hands! So if you've always thought about making things, but never tried it, this course gives you the push you need to just go and do it.

By Mike Southern from Toronto, Ontario 5 months ago Taking Course Now

Highly recommended, very thorough and well presented. If you have even the slightest interest in design or creative problem solving this course is a must. Overall an excellent, challenging experience, well worth the time!

By Terence from Nelson, British Columbia 5 months ago Completed

Thank you so much Professor Ulrich. I'm 66, and haven't taken a university course for a long time! I did graduate studies in political science many years ago. I've always been fascinated with design, and this is the first formal training I've had in it. I loved the course, and the videos were excellent and very clear.
In particular I found the hands-on process of creating an artifact with progressively more depth really useful in understanding the ideas that were presented.
The only suggestion I have for improvement would be some pdf handouts that could be printed out for some of the essential concepts (e.g. the Design process, Five Whys, Design Thinking and so on). I made screen shots and printed them.
This is the first Coursera course that I've done, I hope to do more. Many thanks again to you and your staff.
Terence, British Columbia Canada

By Subheg Singh 5 months ago Completed

Osumm course n was really very easy.
Professor was very interactive and enjoying .
he gave us many links for our help and we enjoyed alot .
i hve learned many new things.
i m sure to tell this to my family and friends of this wonderful experience..................
This is all what i have to say..

By Carol Chung from Los Angeles, California 5 months ago Completed (Partially)

Content was high quality. Weekly assignments were appropriate to keeping momentum on the project. If there were a way to improve the quality of the peer feedback, this would be welcome (more constructive but also analytical). One of my favorite courses so far. This class could go well with Crash Course in Creativity and Tech Entrepreneurship (Stanford Venture Lab). Probably the Creativity course could be taken simultaneously and the Tech Entrepreneurship may be better to take after this course.

By Emma from London, England 5 months ago Completed

What a wonderful course! So interesting and engaging! Prof. Ulrich takes you through the steps of design in such a clear and interesting way. Not only do we get to watch our peers develop their designs, but also Prof. Ulrich. His passion for design is infectious. If you want to do the homeworks and really get everything out of this course you will need to devote a decent amount of time to it, but if you do you won't regret it!

By Josh Frye from Denver, Colorado 5 months ago Completed

I have taken lots on online courses, but this was my first coursera course, and I found it far superior to any online learning experience I have had before. The class was super informative and fun, and the lectures made it much more like an actual class. I can't wait to start my next class, I highly suggest this one

By Julia from Vac 5 months ago Completed

It was the first online course I've taken and it was an excellent course! I enjoyed the lectures and the homework as well.

WHAT TO LEARN
If you are a designer or you never did anything like this before, you can learn a lot during this course.
Even if I am an MA Designer, this course filled some gap in my knowledge. For example how to name a product or how to sort user needs. Thank you for that!

VIDEOS/HOMEWORK
I really like that you can speed up the videos, so I was able to watch them faster and than go back, if I needed to. And it was great to see what our project should look like through the example of Professor Ulrich's own (scoop) project.

EVALUATION
First I felt it's strange to evaluate others and provide feedback on their projects, but at the end I saw, that it has a system that is very easy to use. But it would be nice to see the whole design process of the others when we make evaluation.

FINAL PROTOTYPE/TIME
If that's possible, please leave more time for the final prototype. It takes time to find materials and tools to get it done. (In order to make sure I'm going to be ready on time, I had to order a part from different companies and when it arrived I called up the others I don't need it anymore. Some of them got really angry. Plus I bought a lot more things than I actually needed, because I did not have the time to try one thing and than go back for something else.)

MAYBE NEXT TIME
I expected more advanced sketching lessons. It would be nice to have some optional lessons about how to use colors and how to draw a really nice sketch.