ME 277

 ME 277: Graduate Design Research Techniques – Syllabus Overview

Stanford’s ME 277 (Mechanical Engineering 277), titled **Graduate Design Research Techniques**, is a project-based graduate-level course offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered design methods, particularly through the Design Thinking framework. The course is typically offered in Autumn and Winter quarters, with 3-4 units of credit. It is graded on a letter basis (A/B/C/D/NC) and has no specific undergraduate requirements but is aimed at graduate students from engineering, design, and related fields.

Note: Detailed syllabi for Stanford courses like ME 277 are often hosted on Canvas (Stanford’s learning management system) and accessible only to enrolled students and instructors. Publicly available information is limited to course catalogs and descriptions. Below is a synthesis of the core syllabus elements based on official Stanford resources. For the most current version (e.g., for 2025-2026), contact the instructor or check ExploreCourses.stanford.edu.

Course Description

Students from diverse backgrounds collaborate on real-world design challenges, applying the Design Thinking process with a strong focus on ethnographic techniques, needfinding, framing, and concept generation. The course uses Design Thinking as a lens to deepen understanding of people and their cultures, treating cultural differences as a source of design inspiration. It recognizes that design is a culturally embedded practice and encourages exploration of global perspectives in engineering innovation.

– **Key Themes**: Human-centered design, cultural empathy, iterative problem-solving, and translating user insights into engineering solutions.

– **Format**: In-person lectures (typically 3-4 hours per week), hands-on workshops, team projects, and field activities (e.g., user interviews, observations). Class size is capped at 30-40 students to foster interactive learning.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

– Conduct ethnographic research to identify unmet user needs in complex, real-world contexts.

– Frame design problems effectively, incorporating cultural and societal factors.

– Generate and prototype innovative concepts using collaborative, interdisciplinary methods.

– Apply Design Thinking iteratively to refine solutions, with an emphasis on empathy and feasibility.

– Communicate design insights and prototypes through storytelling, visuals, and presentations.

Prerequisites

– None formally required, but prior exposure to basic design or engineering principles is recommended (e.g., introductory courses like ME 101 or equivalent).

– Open to graduate students across Stanford schools (Engineering, d.school, etc.); undergraduates may enroll with instructor permission.

Topics Covered

The curriculum is structured around the Design Thinking phases, with a research-oriented twist. Typical weekly topics include:

1. **Introduction to Design Thinking**: Overview of the process, empathy mapping, and cultural influences on design.

2. **Ethnographic Techniques**: Observation methods, interviewing skills, and contextual inquiry.

3. **Needfinding**: Identifying latent needs through user immersion and data synthesis.

4. **Problem Framing**: Reframing challenges, stakeholder analysis, and bias mitigation.

5. **Concept Generation**: Brainstorming, ideation tools, and divergent thinking exercises.

6. **Prototyping and Iteration**: Low-fidelity prototyping, feedback loops, and cultural adaptation.

7. **Advanced Applications**: Scaling designs for global impact, ethics in design research, and case studies from engineering fields (e.g., product design, sustainability).

8. **Project Synthesis**: Integrating research into actionable engineering proposals.

Guest speakers from industry (e.g., IDEO, Google) often contribute to sessions on real-world applications.

Assignments and Assessments

The course is heavily project-based, with 70-80% of the grade from team work. Typical breakdown:

– **Participation and In-Class Activities** (20-30%): Weekly reflections, peer feedback, and workshop contributions.

– **Needfinding Fieldwork** (20%): Individual or paired ethnographic assignments (e.g., user interviews and reports).

– **Team Design Project** (40-50%): A semester-long challenge addressing a societal need (e.g., accessible tech for underserved communities). Includes milestones for needfinding, framing, ideation, and a final prototype presentation.

– **Readings and Reflections** (10-20%): Short essays on design literature (e.g., works by Don Norman or IDEO case studies).

– **No Final Exam**: Emphasis on practical skills over rote testing.

Projects often culminate in a showcase at the d.school (Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design), with opportunities for external feedback.

Instructors and Logistics

– **Primary Instructors**: Typically Mark Cutkosky (Professor of Mechanical Engineering) or rotating faculty from the d.school, such as Michele Barry or Melody Jia. Teaching assistants support project mentoring.

– **Meeting Times (Recent Offerings)**: 

  – Autumn 2024: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 11:30 AM – 1:20 PM (Departmental Room).

  – Winter 2025: Similar schedule.

– **Location**: Held at the d.school (Building 550) for collaborative spaces.

– **Resources**: Readings from “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman, “Change by Design” by Tim Brown, and academic papers on ethnography. Tools include sketching software, prototyping kits, and access to Stanford’s fabrication labs.

Additional Notes

– This course is part of Stanford’s Product Realization sequence and aligns with capstone experiences in mechanical engineering.

– A cross-listed version (DESIGN 231: Graduate Design Research Techniques) is offered through the d.school, with identical content but potentially different enrollment caps (e.g., 5 seats reserved for Design majors).

– For historical syllabi, past offerings (e.g., 2018-2019) followed a similar structure, focusing on iterative design cycles.

If you’re a Stanford student, log in to Canvas for the full syllabus, slides, and readings. For more details, email the instructor or visit the d.school website (dschool.stanford.edu/classes).

If you’re a UCLA student, Graduate Design Research Techniques at Stanford isn’t as good as my “editing a company as a consultant woth or without permission to turnaround said company #cs183e” or #swe277pe