Educator Perspectives: Highly successful assessments
There’s nothing quite like a well-designed, engaging and meaningful classroom assessment to shape the successful trajectory of a course.
"I have my favourite, go-to assessments that I’ve iterated on over the years and I’m always curious about what other educators are doing in their classrooms." says Diana Verma RGD
With that in mind, we invited two design educators within the RGD community to share a highly successful assessment they’ve facilitated, learning more about tried-and-true project ideas. Below, we feature the work of educators Vida Jurcic RGD and John Furneaux RGD.
Vida Jurcic RGD
Founding Partner and Co-Creative Director of Hangar 18 Design Continuum
- School: Capilano University, IDEA School of Design
- Assessment Name: Working with a Creative Director
- Goals: Learning to explore a problem from multiple angles; brainstorming in teams; thinking critically and articulating and editing ideas.
- Course: Design Studio 1 (2nd Year)
- Associated Keywords: Collaborative, Authentic, Hands-on, Project-Based, Reflective, Peer-Supported, Interdisciplinary, Creative, Experimental, Story-driven, Strategic, Culturally Responsive, Socially Conscious, Growth-Oriented, Fresh
When assessing any work a student does, it’s very collaborative all around. There are peer reviews, as well as my role, similar to what a Creative Director would do in a design firm or advertising/communications agency. I tell students that the marks are not the most important part. The outcome of having work you are proud of, want to enter into award shows and can highlight in your portfolio is what truly counts. Is it fresh? Is it creative? Does it solve the problem in a relevant, appropriate and innovative way? Does it meet the objectives outlined in the brief? Is there an “idea”?
I think it works well because this particular course is half design and half advertising, and bringing critical, strategic and conceptual thinking to both is essential. What we do can be very subjective, and quantifying it can be difficult—although in real work life, we have metrics to help with this. In the classroom, judging effectiveness based on human insights is a very real way to assess our work. I also don’t assess all projects on “finish” and “polish.” The work is graded on relevance, creativity and effectiveness based on strategy and concept. A brilliant rough idea is far superior to a slick, average one.
John Furneaux RGD
Managing Director of PS&Co Brand Studio
- School: George Brown College, School of Design
- Assessment Name: Using business tools in design based solutions
- Goals: Ensuring that designers can analyze, create, recommend and present solutions to an organization’s key business problems using design-based solutions—while doing so through the language and frameworks of business professionals rather than creative ones.
- Course: Design Strategy
- Co-Facilitator: Judith Gregory RGD Emeritus
- Associated Keywords: Collaborative, Project-Based, Strategic, Process-Focused, Portfolio-Ready, Analysis
The culminating assignment for the course requires students to conduct a comprehensive competitive brand analysis and develop strategic recommendations. Students begin by selecting an industry and examining three competing companies or products through a high-level audit, identifying at least five business challenges for each competitor, such as sales performance, profitability or market growth issues. Working collaboratively, groups narrow these down to the top three challenges per company and determine which business analysis frameworks—PEST, SWOT, VRIO, Porter’s Five Forces, etc.—will best illuminate each challenge.
The project then focuses on one selected company, requiring students to refine its business challenges and complete three appropriate analysis tools to identify design strategy requirements. Students develop strategic recommendations addressing these challenges and compile a final report that includes an industry overview, articulated business needs, completed analyses and design strategy proposals (using generative AI for mood boards and potential solutions).
The assignment culminates in a 20-minute presentation featuring industry and company snapshots, visually-presented business challenges, key analytical insights and design strategy recommendations supported by visual examples demonstrating the proposed approaches.
It creates a clear link for students between business analysis and more effective, impactful creative solutions. By generating solutions directly from their analysis, students can clearly see how the insights they uncover shape the final output.
