LLB251 Law and Design Thinking
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | LLB251 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | LLB104, LLB106 and LLB202. LLB202 can be studied in the same teaching period as LLB251 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $2,040 |
| Pre-2021 CSP student contribution | $1,597 The pre-2021 commonwealth supported place (CSP) contribution amount only applies to students enrolled in a course prior to 2021. To learn more, visit our Understanding your fees page. |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,024 |
| International unit fee | $4,044 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | LLB251 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | LLB104, LLB106 and LLB202. LLB202 can be studied in the same teaching period as LLB251 |
| Coordinator: | Rachel Hews | rachel.hews@qut.edu.au |
Overview
The rapidly evolving legal landscape is changing the nature of law and increasing the need for lawyers to acquire new skills and capabilities suited to the future of work. This includes a growing demand for lawyers who can think differently about the law and who are able to develop empathic, creative, and innovative responses to complex legal problems. This unit introduces students to design thinking (or legal design) as both a mindset and a methodology. It enables them to develop creative confidence and respond to legal challenges from a human-centred perspective. Students will develop a deep understanding of client(s) needs, ideate responses using constraints to promote creativity, and prototype and test their ideas. They will use both analogue and technology-based tools during in-person or online workshops. All students will participate in a 2-day, in-person, Legal Design Sprint (hackathon) where they will work in collaborative teams to respond to a complex legal problem.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply design thinking mindsets and methodologies to complex legal challenges in the changing contexts of law (CLO 1.5, 2.2)
- Analyse clients' needs by taking into account legal and non-legal considerations and create innovative, human-centred responses (Empathise, Define, Ideate) (CLO 2.2)
- Design, test, and improve prototype responses to access to justice or other complex legal problems (Prototype; Test) (CLO 2.1)
- Communicate with diverse audiences in writing, visually, and orally, and collaborate in professional contexts (CLOs 4.1, 4.2, 4.3)
- Apply contemporary technologies (analogue and digital) to plan and execute projects, and present findings and recommendations (CLOs 1.3, 3.1, 3.3)
Content
In this unit, you will learn about:
- Design thinking as a mindset & methodology in a legal context
- Applying empathic mindsets and strategies to deeply understand a client or client group’s needs and problems
- Using design thinking as a methodology to create human-centred responses to access to justice or other complex problems (empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test)
- Developing creative process and using constraints to promote creative ideation
- Leveraging both analogue and online technologies to communicate, collaborate, create, ideate, prototype and test
- Multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork theory
- The benefits of legal design for the future of work
- Pitching novel and innovative solutions to target audiences (eg potential investors or stakeholders)
Learning Approaches
This unit provides opportunities for you to apply your knowledge and practise your skills through collaborative and active learning, including the use of modelling, discussion, and case studies.
In this unit, you will:
- Complete online learning modules to develop your skills and knowledge;
- Participate in tutorials, either in-person or online in real-time, to complete facilitated, interactive design thinking activities, engage in class discussion, practise the application of mindsets and skills, seek guidance and feedback on learning activities, and interact with other students;
- Attend the compulsory in-person 2-day legal design sprint (hackathon) to work in collaborative teams, undertake a facilitated, intensive design sprint, and complete Assessment 2; and
- Access embedded support for learning by working through online modules and resources about learner mindsets, teamwork and using Miro.
IMPORTANT: COMPULSORY IN-PERSON ASSESSMENT Sat 4 & Sun 5 May 2024 [Assessment 2]
All students (both internal & online) must attend the compulsory in-person 2-day legal design sprint at the end of Week 9 (9am - 4pm, 4 & 5 May 2024) during which you will complete Assessment 2. You must be physically present for the duration of the weekend. If you cannot attend the legal design sprint in-person, please do not enrol in this unit. No extension is available for this assignment.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You are provided with feedback to assist your learning throughout the semester. The feedback is provided through:
- discussions in-person or online during workshops
- feedback on workshop tasks
- individual feedback provided on assessment with the completed Criteria Referenced Assessment form
- generic feedback posted on the unit's Canvas for each item of assessment
- the option of consultation with a member of the teaching team
Assessment
Overview
In this unit students are graded on a scale of one to seven.
Students may be required to attend campus or an assessment centre for the purposes of assessment, regardless of the attendance mode for the unit.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Legal Design Prototype
Acting as a legal designer, you will create a visual prototype or mock-up of a user-friendly legal tool. This may include a redesigned court form, visual employment contract, or simplified legal document.
Your submission will demonstrate your design creativity, user-centred approach, and understanding of the principles of legal design. It will contain a written component, as well as your visual prototype.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Legal Design Sprint (Hackathon)
As a collaborative team, you will produce a report outlining your application of the design thinking methodology to an access to justice or other complex legal problem. You will prepare a major project report, including visual aids, to:
- demonstrate your understanding of the client's needs (empathise);
- articulate the problem you want to solve (define);
- set out a range of potential solutions (ideate);
- identify your preferred solution and justify your selection (feasibility, viability, desirability);
- present a comprehensive overview of your proposed solution (prototype);
- set out the approach you will use to seek feedback (including preliminary testing) and explain how you will use this feedback to iterate your prototype design (test).
You will have the opportunity to seek input and feedback from an industry representative(s) during the legal design sprint.
Topic provided; self-selected team of 3-5 students.
The late submission period does not apply, and no assignment extensions are available.
Assessment: Pecha Kucha Pitch (video)
Building on your ideas and solutions developed during the legal design sprint (hackathon), individually you will prepare a professional pitch presentation tailored to a specific target audience (eg stakeholder or potential investor). During your pitch, you will articulate your novel project idea, demonstrate its market potential, and present a compelling case for implementation or investment.
Your pitch will take the form of a modified Pecha Kucha, a presentation form that uses 10 slides or images that are displayed for 20 seconds each (total length: 3 minutes 20 seconds). The slides will move automatically as you are speaking, ensuring you present a concise pitch.
Your pitch will be submitted as a video recording file (eg a zoom recording).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Prescribed text: none.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Astrid Kohlmeier and Meera Klemola, The Legal Design Book: Doing Law in the 21st Century (2021).
Faegre Drinker, Design Thinking and Visual Advocacy for Lawyers (Design Lab, 2021). (20MB free download)
Other
- Resources will be provided via Canvas.
- Students will need to access to Zoom, Office 365, and Miro. Zoom and Office 365 are QUT supported software systems.
- Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform that has been created specifically for applying design thinking methodologies. Students can sign up for a free account online: https://miro.com/
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no unusual risks in this unit.
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Online
| Unit code: | LLB251 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | LLB104, LLB106 and LLB202. LLB202 can be studied in the same teaching period as LLB251 |
Overview
The rapidly evolving legal landscape is changing the nature of law and increasing the need for lawyers to acquire new skills and capabilities suited to the future of work. This includes a growing demand for lawyers who can think differently about the law and who are able to develop empathic, creative, and innovative responses to complex legal problems. This unit introduces students to design thinking (or legal design) as both a mindset and a methodology. It enables them to develop creative confidence and respond to legal challenges from a human-centred perspective. Students will develop a deep understanding of client(s) needs, ideate responses using constraints to promote creativity, and prototype and test their ideas. They will use both analogue and technology-based tools during in-person or online workshops. All students will participate in a 2-day, in-person, Legal Design Sprint (hackathon) where they will work in collaborative teams to respond to a complex legal problem.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply design thinking mindsets and methodologies to complex legal challenges in the changing contexts of law (CLO 1.5, 2.2)
- Analyse clients' needs by taking into account legal and non-legal considerations and create innovative, human-centred responses (Empathise, Define, Ideate) (CLO 2.2)
- Design, test, and improve prototype responses to access to justice or other complex legal problems (Prototype; Test) (CLO 2.1)
- Communicate with diverse audiences in writing, visually, and orally, and collaborate in professional contexts (CLOs 4.1, 4.2, 4.3)
- Apply contemporary technologies (analogue and digital) to plan and execute projects, and present findings and recommendations (CLOs 1.3, 3.1, 3.3)
Content
In this unit, you will learn about:
- Design thinking as a mindset & methodology in a legal context
- Applying empathic mindsets and strategies to deeply understand a client or client group’s needs and problems
- Using design thinking as a methodology to create human-centred responses to access to justice or other complex problems (empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test)
- Developing creative process and using constraints to promote creative ideation
- Leveraging both analogue and online technologies to communicate, collaborate, create, ideate, prototype and test
- Multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork theory
- The benefits of legal design for the future of work
- Pitching novel and innovative solutions to target audiences (eg potential investors or stakeholders)
Learning Approaches
This unit provides opportunities for you to apply your knowledge and practise your skills through collaborative and active learning, including the use of modelling, discussion, and case studies.
In this unit, you will:
- Complete online learning modules to develop your skills and knowledge;
- Participate in tutorials, either in-person or online in real-time, to complete facilitated, interactive design thinking activities, engage in class discussion, practise the application of mindsets and skills, seek guidance and feedback on learning activities, and interact with other students;
- Attend the compulsory in-person 2-day legal design sprint (hackathon) to work in collaborative teams, undertake a facilitated, intensive design sprint, and complete Assessment 2; and
- Access embedded support for learning by working through online modules and resources about learner mindsets, teamwork and using Miro.
IMPORTANT: COMPULSORY IN-PERSON ASSESSMENT Sat 4 & Sun 5 May 2024 [Assessment 2]
All students (both internal & online) must attend the compulsory in-person 2-day legal design sprint at the end of Week 9 (9am - 4pm, 4 & 5 May 2024) during which you will complete Assessment 2. You must be physically present for the duration of the weekend. If you cannot attend the legal design sprint in-person, please do not enrol in this unit. No extension is available for this assignment.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You are provided with feedback to assist your learning throughout the semester. The feedback is provided through:
- discussions in-person or online during workshops
- feedback on workshop tasks
- individual feedback provided on assessment with the completed Criteria Referenced Assessment form
- generic feedback posted on the unit's Canvas for each item of assessment
- the option of consultation with a member of the teaching team
Assessment
Overview
In this unit students are graded on a scale of one to seven.
Students may be required to attend campus or an assessment centre for the purposes of assessment, regardless of the attendance mode for the unit.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Legal Design Prototype
Acting as a legal designer, you will create a visual prototype or mock-up of a user-friendly legal tool. This may include a redesigned court form, visual employment contract, or simplified legal document.
Your submission will demonstrate your design creativity, user-centred approach, and understanding of the principles of legal design. It will contain a written component, as well as your visual prototype.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Legal Design Sprint (Hackathon)
As a collaborative team, you will produce a report outlining your application of the design thinking methodology to an access to justice or other complex legal problem. You will prepare a major project report, including visual aids, to:
- demonstrate your understanding of the client's needs (empathise);
- articulate the problem you want to solve (define);
- set out a range of potential solutions (ideate);
- identify your preferred solution and justify your selection (feasibility, viability, desirability);
- present a comprehensive overview of your proposed solution (prototype);
- set out the approach you will use to seek feedback (including preliminary testing) and explain how you will use this feedback to iterate your prototype design (test).
You will have the opportunity to seek input and feedback from an industry representative(s) during the legal design sprint.
Topic provided; self-selected team of 3-5 students.
The late submission period does not apply, and no assignment extensions are available.
Assessment: Pecha Kucha Pitch (video)
Building on your ideas and solutions developed during the legal design sprint (hackathon), individually you will prepare a professional pitch presentation tailored to a specific target audience (eg stakeholder or potential investor). During your pitch, you will articulate your novel project idea, demonstrate its market potential, and present a compelling case for implementation or investment.
Your pitch will take the form of a modified Pecha Kucha, a presentation form that uses 10 slides or images that are displayed for 20 seconds each (total length: 3 minutes 20 seconds). The slides will move automatically as you are speaking, ensuring you present a concise pitch.
Your pitch will be submitted as a video recording file (eg a zoom recording).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Prescribed text: none.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Astrid Kohlmeier and Meera Klemola, The Legal Design Book: Doing Law in the 21st Century (2021).
Faegre Drinker, Design Thinking and Visual Advocacy for Lawyers (Design Lab, 2021). (20MB free download)
Other
- Resources will be provided via Canvas.
- Students will need to access to Zoom, Office 365, and Miro. Zoom and Office 365 are QUT supported software systems.
- Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform that has been created specifically for applying design thinking methodologies. Students can sign up for a free account online: https://miro.com/
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no unusual risks in this unit.