Design

Hello Kitty design prototype by Julaysi / Designing healthy eating opportunities for kids

Why don’t more students eat lunch in the cafeteria? Why do so many people ‘push’ on doors that say ‘pull’? Why are some subway cars more crowded than others, and what could be done to distribute people more evenly? Designers think differently. They are curious, and they believe “design” is the answer to all of the questions above. They use a creative process to solve real life problems, from bullying to malaria to recycling.

Problems that appear to have simple answers often do not, and the answers we propose at first may rely on assumptions instead of on observations. For example, one might think that more students don’t eat in the cafeteria because “the food is bad,” but interviews might reveal that they don’t eat there because the furniture is uncomfortable or the staff is inconsiderate. Rather than fixing the food, then, we need to respond to the core of the problem. Students in this class will learn creative strategies for solving design challenges, and will identify and design a solution for a real life problem at the iSchool.

Syllabus 2010-12 / Course Schedule (Fall 2011, in progress)