As part of the course, students first analyze the sensory perception, functional properties, and semantic dimensions of meaning of a material. Building on this, an association term (e.g., sporty, artificial, or playful) is drawn from a defined pool of terms and systematically related to the material.

From this connection, students develop a material concept whose intended effect corresponds to the respective associative term. In addition to examining the semantic effect of materials, students use this as a basis to design a product according to the principle of material-driven design. The application, function, and design of the product are consistently derived from the specific properties of the material.