phd human centered design online

(Major Code: 12141)

A Ph.D. in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology, Health Behavior, or Global Health is offered by the joint faculties of the San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science. Ph.D. in Public Health students also have the option of obtaining an interdisciplinary specialization in Human-Centered Design. More information about this specialization can be found here: https://catalog.ucsd.edu/curric/DSGN-gr.html . Faculty from other SDSU (e.g., Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, Psychology) and UCSD (e.g., School of Medicine) departments and schools also contribute extensively to training and advising students enrolled in the SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) in Public Health. Students complete coursework and conduct research at both institutions. In Year 1, students complete coursework at SDSU. In Year 2, students complete coursework at UCSD. Faculty from each campus serve on advisory and dissertation committees, providing extensive exposure to experts with varied interests and proficiencies. The JDP in Public Health trains individuals for careers in research and teaching in a variety of settings, including academic and research institutions, government agencies, multi-national and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. More information about the SDSU-UCSD JDP in Public Health and the three concentrations can be found here: https://ph.ucsd.edu/jdp/about/index.html  

Admissions Requirements

Applicants for admission to the SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) in Public Health apply to one of the three concentrations (Epidemiology, Health Behavior, or Global Health). To be considered for admission, students must meet the general requirements for admission to both universities with classified graduate standing as outlined in the respective current catalogs. These include:

• an acceptable baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association or equivalent academic preparation, as determined by the deans of the two graduate divisions;
• a GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester (90 quarter) units attempted;
• good standing at the last institution attended.

Full consideration of the admission application can take place only after all required documents have been received. Preference will be given to applicants with an MPH or MS degree in public health. Applicants for admission must present evidence of capacity for graduate study in public health. A multidisciplinary field such as public health draws from a wide variety of undergraduate majors, but the student is expected to have a strong grounding in the quantitative, behavioral, and biological sciences. More information about admissions and how to apply can be found here: https://ph.ucsd.edu/jdp/admissions/index.html  

Residency Requirements

After formal admission to the joint doctoral program, the student must spend at least one academic year in full-time residence on each of the two campuses. The definition of residence must be in accord with the regulations of SDSU and UCSD.

Course Requirements

Core courses in behavioral science, research methods, epidemiology, and biostatistics are offered at both SDSU and UCSD. Prior to taking the qualifying examination, students are expected to have a firm understanding of modern principles of public health as well as knowledge and application of epidemiology, behavioral science, and biostatistical methods. Elective coursework may be selected from offerings at both campuses. For specific information on course requirements and other information for each concentration, see: https://ph.ucsd.edu/jdp/tracks/index.html

Advisory Committee

Upon admission to the program, the steering committee of the two institutions will establish an advisory committee for the student. This committee will consist of three faculty members chosen jointly from the two institutions. In consultation with the student, the committee will develop the student’s course of study, prepare and guide preliminary/qualifying examinations, and establish the student’s joint qualifying committee. At least one member of the advisory committee must be from SDSU and one from UCSD.

Doctoral Committee

A five-member committee, composed of faculty at SDSU and UCSD, will be recommended by the advisory committee for each student and approved by the graduate deans from both campuses. One member must be non-program faculty and there must be at least one tenured faculty member from each university. The student’s dissertation adviser will chair the committee. At least two members must be from SDSU and two from UCSD.

The doctoral committee will conduct a written and oral comprehensive qualifying examination, which will evaluate the student’s understanding and knowledge of his or her special area of behavioral science, epidemiologic interest, or global health. The purpose of this examination is for the student to demonstrate competence in the major research field.

The doctoral committee may specify a course of study to strengthen any weaknesses identified during the qualifying examination. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination the student must apply to the Division of Graduate Affairs at UCSD for advancement to candidacy. Upon payment of the candidacy fee to UCSD, and after approval by the graduate deans on both campuses, the student will be notified of advancement to candidacy by the UCSD Division of Graduate Affairs.

Master’s in Human-Centered Design Degree Design with Purpose

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Develop Innovative Products and Services That Meet the Needs of Consumers with Liberty’s MA in Human-Centered Design Degree

Whether you’re creating a digital interface or a physical product, it’s vital that you consider the wants and needs of your target audience. With Liberty’s 100% online Master of Arts (MA) in Human-Centered Design degree, you can learn how to offer goods and services that are useful and appeal to people on a deeper level – aesthetically, creatively, and even emotionally.

This master’s degree provides an in-depth look at ideation techniques, user experience fundamentals, rapid prototyping, and design theories. By learning how to keep the end user at the forefront of the design process, you can become equipped to improve products, services, processes, spaces, education, interactions, and more. The skills you gain through this program can be an asset as you conduct research, develop prototypes, test products, and prepare goods and services for mass production.

From product design to mobile app development and more, numerous fields use human-centered design methods to ensure that the products and services being offered meet consumers’ needs, desires, and expectations. Perhaps you already work in an industry that relies on human-centered design, or maybe you’re looking to get started in a relevant career for the first time. Either way, our human-centered design master’s online can help you formulate creative solutions to ensure a positive user experience.

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Why Choose Liberty’s Master’s in Human-Centered Design Degree Online?

Liberty has been a pioneer in distance learning since 1985. We’ve spent decades perfecting our world-class curriculum to meet your needs as a student and as a professional, so you can get the training you need from the comfort of home. Our master’s in human-centered design is offered 100% online with no set login times – giving you the flexibility to fit your studies into your schedule. Not only that, but you can complete this degree in as little as 1 year – allowing you to save time and money!

At Liberty, you won’t have to sacrifice quality for flexibility. Liberty is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges ( SACSCOC ). Additionally, we rank in the  top 10% of Niche.com’s best online schools in America . Earning your degree from a school with this kind of recognition can help you stand out as you pursue exciting new job opportunities.

In this program, you’ll study under professors who have years of experience working in user experience design, product design, and more. With their guidance, you can become equipped to apply principles of human-centered design to your area of expertise. The skills you’ll learn throughout this program can be an asset as you seek to understand and respond to the needs of consumers – so you can develop innovative products, services, and systems that are tailored to your target audience.

What Will You Study in Our Human-Centered Design Master’s Program?

Our human-centered design courses offer a blend of theory and practical application, giving you a well-rounded base of knowledge for your career. This program can foster competencies in user experience, prototyping, product design, user interface, interaction design, user research, visual design, and more.

Some of the specific topics you’ll explore include:

• Aesthetic principles and design software used for visualizing data, processes, prototypes, hierarchies, and frameworks
• Design theories that influence, entice, motivate, excite, and communicate with audiences
• Digital and physical prototyping methods
• How to identify opportunities for innovation and improved user experience
• Ideation techniques used to generate iterative and innovative design solutions
• The components of design thinking as a methodology for solving problems in innovative ways
• The empathic design process and design research methods
• User experience principles as applied to digital and physical experiences in a variety of contexts

You’ll also participate in 2 design labs focused on the study and practice-based application of human-centered design to products, processes, and learning. To wrap up your studies, you’ll complete a capstone project – which gives you the chance to incorporate all aspects of human-centered design to produce and propose innovative solutions to real-world problems.

Potential Career Opportunities

• Commercial and industrial designer
• Experience design lead
• Graphic designer
• Head of product design
• Human factors engineer
• User experience designer
• User experience researcher
• User interface designer

Featured Courses

• ARTS 500 – Aesthetics and Technology
• ARTS 601 – Prototyping: Ideas to Action
• DSGN 500 – Fundamentals of Design for Social Innovation
• DSGN 625 – Principles of User Experience for the Physical and Digital World

Degree Information

• This program falls under the  School of Communication and the Arts .
• View the  Graduate Communication and the Arts Course Guides   (login required) .

Degree Completion Plan (PDF)

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Admission Requirements

• A non-refundable, non-transferable $50 application fee will be posted on the current application upon enrollment (waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required) .
• Unofficial transcripts can be used for acceptance purposes with the submission of a Transcript Request Form .
• Applicants whose native language is other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternative assessment. For information on alternative assessments or TOEFL waivers, please call Admissions or view the official International Admissions policy .

Preliminary Acceptance

If you are sending in a preliminary transcript for acceptance, you must:

• Be in your final term and planning to start your master’s degree after the last day of class for your bachelor’s degree.
• Complete a Bachelor’s Self-Certification Form confirming your completion date. You may download the form from the Forms and Downloads page or contact an admissions counselor to submit the form on your behalf.
• Submit an official/unofficial transcript to confirm that you are in your final term. The preliminary transcript must show a minimum of 105 completed credit hours.
• If you are a current Liberty University student completing your undergraduate degree, you will need to submit a Degree/Certificate Completion Application .
• Send in an additional, final official transcript with a conferral date on it by the end of your first semester of enrollment in the new master’s degree.

Dual Enrollment

Please see the Online Dual Enrollment page for information about starting graduate courses while finishing your bachelor’s degree.

Transcript Policies

Unofficial college transcript policy.

Unofficial transcripts combined with a Transcript Request Form can be used for admission. Official transcripts are required within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first, and will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.

Before sending unofficial college transcripts, please make sure they include the following:

• Your previous school’s name or logo printed on the document
• Cumulative GPA
• A list of completed courses and earned credit broken down by semester
• Degree and date conferred (if applicable)

Official College Transcript Policy

An acceptable official college transcript is one that has been issued directly from the institution and is in a sealed envelope. If you have one in your possession, it must meet the same requirements. If your previous institution offers electronic official transcript processing, they can send the document directly to [email protected] .

If the student uses unofficial transcripts with a Transcript Request Form to gain acceptance, all official transcripts must be received within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first. Failure to send all official transcripts within the 60-day period will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.

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Doctor of Design Program (DDes)

Professor Martin Bechthold advises students at Autodesk's BUILD Space in Boston.

The Doctor of Design (DDes) program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design is a leading doctoral degree program for highly creative and motivated professionals who wish to conduct rigorous, intensive design research.

The program is geared towards applied research that advances design related knowledge in a broad range of scales from product design to buildings and landscapes to urban design and regional planning. Common to the diverse range of DDes research investigations is the belief that design research makes essential contributions to understanding, analyzing and ultimately improving the built environment in our increasingly complex world.

DDes research is often multidisciplinary and encompasses a broad range and combination of theoretical, applied and technological topics that represent the cutting edge of applied design investigation. DDes research is intimately linked to ongoing investigations of the GSD’s research labs and programs that integrate many DDes students both intellectually and operationally as investigators in ongoing research projects.

Research topics are proposed during admission and are decided upon entry into the program. Student research should align with current faculty research interests, allowing for affiliations with faculty and, possibly, the research labs. Applicants are expected to clearly articulate their research topics in the application by submitting a concise and well-structured research proposal. Typical research areas include studies in urban design and theory, landscape urbanism, novel design techniques and technologies including material systems, design computation, and building technologies, planning and real estate studies, and theoretical investigations of emerging trends in digital design culture. Thesis topics investigate more specific issues within individual or combined research areas, and do not necessarily correspond to individual academic disciplines. Instead, they are often interdisciplinary in nature, involving faculty and resources from other graduate schools at Harvard and contribute to expanding the intellectual range of design research.

The DDes program is highly regarded internationally, and DDes alumni have become thought leaders in their respective fields. Their work promotes and advances improvements of the built and the natural environment worldwide. They hold prestigious positions in private practice, industry, government and academia.

We invite you to review the program details at left. Please feel free to  contact us for more information.

Ali Malkawi Professor of Architectural Technology Director of the Doctor of Design Studies Program Founding Director of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities

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Stanford Online

Creativity and design thinking program.

Stanford School of Engineering

Program Enrollment: $3,495

Get Started

Let’s make creativity and innovation part of your standard operating procedures. With our design thinking courses, you can bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to your team, your department, or your entire company. We’ll show you how design thinking can (and will) unlock your creativity so that you can repeatedly come up with innovative ideas and solutions to problems (big and small) that you face in your life and your work. Through online content, hands-on assignments, ongoing coaching, and proven frameworks, you'll learn how to practice and champion design thinking in any role you're in.

• Continuously produce breakthrough ideas
• Catalyze design thinking in your company
• Unlock the innovative capacity of your team
• Build a lifelong practice of creative problem-solving

Program Components

Introduction to Design Thinking

Jeremy Utley and Justin Ferrell will introduce you to design thinking, as they teach it every day here at the Stanford d.School. Get started in your design thinking journey and prepare for further, more hands-on courses.

Achieving Innovation through Inspiration

Inspiration isn’t something you wait for. It’s something you work for. Gain the critical tools you need to seek the inspiration that will turn unknowns into radically new products and services.

Empathize and Prototype: A Hands on Dive into the Key Tools of Design Thinking

Master techniques for gaining empathy with customers and immediately put them to use in a series of hands-on exercises that guide you from synthesis to prototyping and testing.

Innovation at Work

Follow along with hands-on exercises that lead you from ideation to prototyping and presentation. You'll learn how to lead innovation and brainstorming sessions in your company.

Live Interaction with Faculty and Peers

Participate in monthly “Activation Hours” where you’ll join our program instructors live, as they walk you through new, supplemental creativity and design thinking content. In the discussion sessions, you will meet and collaborate with your fellow learners.

Dr. Kathryn Segovia of the Stanford d.school will guide you through a series of coaching lessons between each course that will help you build your daily creative practice and form a lifelong routine that fosters innovation.

Chats with David Kelley

Throughout the program, David Kelley invites you into his personal design studio for a series of chats on different aspects of creativity and design thinking, from the origins of design thinking to strengthening your creative muscles and building creative confidence.

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Program Courses (Included)

Flexible Enrollment Options

Individual enrollments.

$3,495 1 year of access

View and complete course materials, video lectures, assignments, and exams, at your own pace. You also get 1 year of email access to your Stanford teaching assistant.

Groups and Teams

Special Pricing

Enroll as a group and learn together. By participating together, your group will develop a shared knowledge, language, and mindset to tackle challenges ahead. We can advise you on the best options to meet your organization’s training and development goals.

What You'll Earn

You’ll earn a Stanford Certificate of Achievement in Creativity and Design Thinking when you successfully complete this program. 

Your blockchain-verified digital certificate will allow you to showcase your achievements on LinkedIn and other platforms, validate credentials with employers, and highlight your expertise.

What Our Learners Are Saying

Ready to transform your company and build a culture of innovative problem-solving? Bring design thinking to your team and colleagues today.

Hear Daphne’s Story

"I want to get students active and engaged and co-create their learning experience with their teachers."

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Academic Directors

David Kelley

Donald W. Whittier Professor Mechanical Engineering

David Kelley's work is dedicated to helping people gain confidence in their creative abilities. He employs a project based methodology called Design Thinking within both the Product Design Program and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.  Design Thinking is based on building empathy for user needs, developing solutions with iterative prototyping, and inspiring ideas for the future through storytelling.  The Product Design program emphasizes the blending of engineering innovation, human values, and manufacturing concerns into a single curriculum. Kelley teaches engineering design methodology, the techniques of quick prototyping to prove feasibility, and design through understanding of user needs.

Kathryn Segovia

Lecturer, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design

Kathryn Segovia brings her expertise in process, methods and tools to the Stanford d.school teaching team. She also brings a wealth of industry experience, having worked on fast-paced internal, external, strategic and retail design challenges. Kathryn brings a keen awareness and understanding of the unique challenges faced by internal design teams as well as those faced by intact teams working to apply design thinking. Kathryn enjoys helping people whittle down the layers of their work lives to reveal who they really are while supporting them through moments of doubt and fear as they embark on their life-long process of leadership development. Witnessing that moment in her students when they see their work and life challenges differently, through a new lens with refreshed energy, is one of her true joys. 

Kathryn is a lecturer and Head of Learning Experience Design at the d.school in addition to her work as an independent consultant. Her past clients include Steelcase and VF Corporation. She holds a Ph.D. (2012), Master’s degree (2010) and B.A. (2007) in Communication as well as a Master’s degree in Psychology (2007) — all from Stanford University.

Teaching Team

Justin Ferrell

Strategic Partnerships

Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford

Justin Ferrell joined the d.school in 2012 to redesign and direct its fellowship program. A career journalist specializing in organizational behavior and design, Justin worked for seven years at The Washington Post, most recently as the director of digital, mobile & new product design. He brought mobile designers and programmers into the newsroom, and enabled collaborative teams of reporters, editors and developers to create groundbreaking work. Also a prolific visual storyteller, Justin designed several award-winning projects — including the investigative series “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency,” winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. He has spoken on creative culture and human-centered design in many venues, from the SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, to the Norwegian Research Council in Oslo, to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, to Education City in Doha, Qatar. Justin teaches Stanford graduate courses in design thinking, creativity and organization design. He also teaches executive education at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and his consulting clients have included Hewlett-Packard, IDEO and Citi Ventures. He has led many innovation workshops, including sessions for Alestra, Facebook, Google, Knight Foundation, Nokia, SAP, the U.S. Department of State, The United Nations and the World Economic Forum.

Perry Klebahn

Adjunct Professor, Director of Executive Education

When it comes to startups, corporations and executive leadership, Perry’s seen just about everything. He's a seasoned entrepreneur, product designer, chief executive and co-founding member of the d.school faculty with over 20 years of experience. He also loves math, motorcycles and making things. Perry brought two out of three of those interests to bear when he created a new category of sportswear by way of a high-performance shoe — a snowshoe — for his product design master’s thesis. He went on to found the Atlas Snowshoe Company, which remains the leader in snowshoe design and technology. Perry sold Atlas and became the head of Sales and Marketing for the clothing brand, Patagonia in 2000. He then went on to be named the CEO of the iconic bag company, Timbuk2 in 2007. Both opportunities gave him extensive experience in brand turn-around, design and innovation. Despite his years running startups and corporations, Perry’s true calling is teaching. He leverages the breadth and depth of his experience as he pushes his students to bring rigor and precision to their fast-paced design work. His students often tell him that, while they were intimidated by him during the course, they're grateful for the pressure he placed on them to exceed their own expectations. Perry is a founding teaching team member for the d.school’s startup gauntlet class, Launchpad, the innovation leadership course, d.leadership and the week-long executive education intensive, Bootcamp. He is also on the teaching teams for the personal development course, Designer in Society and the organizational change course, d.org. In every class, Perry guides his students to look back in order to discover what to do next and works from the unshakeable belief that it’s always possible to see a problem differently.

Perry is an Adjunct Professor and Director of Executive Education at the d.school. He holds a B.A. in Physics from Wesleyan University (1988) and a Master’s degree in Product Design from Stanford University (1991).

Jeremy Utley

Adjunct Professor

Jeremy never expected to be a designer. On his 10th birthday, his father asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Jeremy replied,”I want to be one of the people who carry boxes with handles.” A little over a decade later, Jeremy became a briefcase-carrying management consultant focusing on economic development. Then, in 2008, d.school derailed him completely. His time as a student and a fellow at the d.school showed him that “how” he worked was more important than “what” he did. Today, Jeremy is dedicated to helping others along the same path to becoming a designer. He helps people change their deeply-engrained behaviors and discover, as he did, that it is possible for them to make a difference. He does this through teaching as well as through growing alongside his students to become better in his own life and work every day.

Jeremy is the Director of Executive Education at the d.school. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin’s Red McComb’s School of Business (2005) and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2009).

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Human Centered Design & Engineering

We advance systems and technologies for people and communities to create accessible, sustainable, and prosperous futures.

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Humanity-Centered Design

What is humanity-centered design.

Humanity-centered design is a practice where designers focus on people’s needs not as individuals but as societies with complex, deep-rooted problems. Designers can co-create proper solutions when they work with populations, address the right problems, perform systems analyses and co-design small, simple interventions to embrace incrementalism to make gradual progress.

“Learn how to work together and find a solution that is most appropriate for the people.” — Don Norman, “Grand Old Man of User Experience”

See why humanity-centered design is key to designing the best solutions to complex global problems.

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The Best Solutions Answer Big-Picture Problems

Cognitive science and user experience expert Don Norman identified the need to evolve away from user-centered design to people-centered design and human-centered design , so designers develop a broader view of their responsibilities to the people they design for. But we say “person” rather than “human” when we discuss the people we want to help. And we focus on them as communities , not individuals.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Humanity-centered design represents the ultimate challenge for designers to help people improve their lives. Where “human-centered” puts a face to a user, “humanity-centered” expands this view far beyond: to the societal level of world populations who face hordes of highly complex and interrelated issues that are most often tangled up in large, sophisticated, “human-caused” systems. That’s why we as designers use 21st century design , to analyze wicked problems and complex socio-technical systems . From there, we try to accommodate the needs of the groups we want to help. Without this, we’d be left in the same old trap of designing only what we think will work. And these areas especially distort our views as designers:

Monoculture – Designers who live in Western (including Western-influenced) societies inhabit a reality where everyone learns from the same books and universities and attends the same conferences. Consequently, everyone tends to think the same way: a dangerous thing. Like crops in nature, there’s a better chance of surviving a disaster if we diversify. But it’s challenging to overcome Western biases, stop designing ill-conceived, patronizing “solutions” that fail toxically, and listen to other cultures and their ways of seeing their world.

The world’s economic systems – Pioneering economist Adam Smith had seen how greedy individuals could twist the invisible hand of the market. And too much of the economic system continues to be exploited by the rich and wealthy for gain. So, the gulf continues to widen in terms of the availability of resources between the very rich and the very poor.

The world’s political systems – They’re also damaged, with the interests of the powerful often blocking the way to addressing global problems.

The internet – With fake news and legions of distorted opinions flooding cyberspace, the real picture of the state of our world and its many systems is increasingly hard to understand.

Humanity-centered design is the answer Norman proposes to change many things, including the economic model, so we can learn from other traditions and serve the ultimate end: to make the world a better place.

How to Use Humanity-Centered Design to Make a Better World

You can apply the principles of humanity-centered design to any complex problem in the world, be it related to politics, economics, education or any of a host of others (e.g., from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals).

The Five Principles of Humanity-Centered Design

The principles of humanity-centered design are similar to traditional human-centered design principles. Besides expanding the scope of traditional HCD to include the ecosystem, humanity-centered design adds a fifth dimension to the four principles: Design with the community.

Focus on the entire ecosystem of people, all living things, and the physical environment. Everything is connected. The actions in one part of the globe can have a ripple effect across different regions. For example, you might find that islanders in a Far-East nation have severe pollution problems and their fishing industry is dying. This could be due to plastics dumped in a neighboring island. It could also be linked to poor recycling infrastructure that leads to plastic getting dumped near the sea. There may not be a single source of the problem because of the interconnected nature of the world today.

Solve the root issues, not just the problem as presented (which is often the symptom, not the cause) . Dig deep and examine cause-and-effect chains carefully. There are often very complex links. In our example, a program to remove the plastic from the islanders’ seafront would be treating symptoms. The problem runs deeper. Try the 5 Whys approach to uncover root causes.

Take a long-term, systems point of view. We must realize that the impact of our actions on society and the ecosystem can take years to appear or manifest even decades later. Everything is a system. Working back through a cause-and-effect chain, you’ll find other forces at work. In our example, there’s an agreement between countries. How would you address that? Which experts could help reduce the overflow of recyclable plastic going abroad? Is recycling not a good thing, after all? As we can see, it’s complex; it’s a system . So, do a long-term systems analysis to find the connections, knock-on effects, etc.

Continually test and refine the proposed designs to ensure they truly meet the concerns of the people and ecosystem for whom they are intended. Do small, simple interventions to tackle the most important problem. See what works and what brings you closer to a sustainable solution. Tweak it when the results seem promising and keep learning from the feedback. In our example, this could involve the repurposing of plastic containers into bricks to make low-income housing. Meanwhile, governments could appreciate that recycling isn’t as straightforward as most people assume. Perhaps the exporter country could encourage manufacturers to use less plastic, find alternative packaging, etc.

Design with the community, not for them. Professional designers should serve as facilitators and support community members to meet their concerns. This is by far the most important principle in humanity-centered design. Continuing our previous example, designers must refrain from imposing solutions on the community that faces the pollution crisis. Often, people who face the problems also have good solutions, but only need support to implement them. Furthermore, when solutions come from within the community, people are more likely to accept the solution than if it were to come from outside.

Overall, humanity-centered design is an opportunity to move away from designing small, simple things to designing systems ; political systems that can effect real change, real solutions to big problems affecting our planet and the precious life it sustains.

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Learn More about Humanity-Centered Design

For more on humanity-centered design and how you can help design a better world, take our course Design for a Better World with Don Norman .

Norman, Donald A. Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered . Cambridge, MA, MA: The MIT Press, 2023.

Read more articles and essays by Don Norman on JND.org .

Read this powerful piece for fascinating insights into humanity-centered design: How design contributes to toxic individualism, and what can be done about it

Here’s one art director’s thought-provoking take on humanity-centered design: It’s time for a Humanity-Centered Design   

Literature on Humanity-Centered Design

Here’s the entire UX literature on Humanity-Centered Design by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Humanity-Centered Design

Take a deep dive into Humanity-Centered Design with our course Design for a Better World with Don Norman .

“Because everyone designs, we are all designers, so it is up to all of us to change the world. However, those of us who are professional designers have an even greater responsibility, for professional designers have the training and the knowledge to have a major impact on the lives of people and therefore on the earth.” — Don Norman, Design for a Better World

Our world is full of complex socio-technical problems:

Unsustainable and wasteful practices that cause extreme climate changes such as floods and droughts.

Wars that worsen hunger and poverty .

Pandemics that disrupt entire economies and cripple healthcare .

Widespread misinformation that undermines education.

All these problems are massive and interconnected. They seem daunting, but as you'll see in this course, we can overcome them.

Design for a Better World with Don Norman is taught by cognitive psychologist and computer scientist Don Norman. Widely regarded as the father (and even the grandfather) of user experience, he is the former VP of the Advanced Technology Group at Apple and co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group.

Don Norman has constantly advocated the role of design. His book “The Design of Everyday Things” is a masterful introduction to the importance of design in everyday objects. Over the years, his conviction in the larger role of design and designers to solve complex socio-technical problems has only increased.

This course is based on his latest book “Design for a Better World,” released in March 2023. Don Norman urges designers to think about the whole of humanity, not just individual people or small groups.

In lesson 1, you'll learn about the importance of meaningful measurements . Everything around us is artificial, and so are the metrics we use. Don Norman challenges traditional numerical metrics since they do not capture the complexity of human life and the environment. He advocates for alternative measurements alongside traditional ones to truly understand the complete picture.

In lesson 2, you'll learn about and explore multiple examples of sustainability and circular design in practice. In lesson 3, you'll dive into humanity-centered design and learn how to apply incremental modular design to large and complex socio-technical problems.

In lesson 4, you'll discover how designers can facilitate behavior-change , which is crucial to address the world's most significant issues. Finally, in the last lesson, you'll learn how designers can contribute to designing a better world on a practical level and the role of artificial intelligence in the future of design.

Throughout the course, you'll get practical tips to apply in real-life projects. In the " Build Your Case Study" project, you'll step into the field and seek examples of organizations and people who already practice the philosophy and methods you’ll learn in this course.

You'll get step-by-step guidelines to help you identify which organizations and projects genuinely change the world and which are superficial. Most importantly, you'll understand what gaps currently exist and will be able to recommend better ways to implement projects. You will build on your case study in each lesson, so once you have completed the course, you will have an in-depth piece for your portfolio .

All open-source articles on Humanity-Centered Design

Human-centered design: how to focus on people when you solve complex global challenges.

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Use More Meaningful Measurements in Design and in the World

Recycling is Not Enough. Let's Design for Reuse

Sustainability Is Not Enough

Enhance UX: Top Insights from an IxDF Design Course

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Participants in Design Thinking and Innovation are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online.

Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner. This will mean meeting each week’s course module deadlines and fully answering questions posed therein. This helps ensure participants proceed through the course at a similar pace and can take full advantage of social learning opportunities. In addition to module and assignment completion, we expect you to offer feedback on others’ reflections and contribute to conversations on the platform. Participants who fail to complete the course requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the course.

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School: Harvard Business School Online Dates Attended: [The year you participated in the program] Degree: Other; Certificate in Design Thinking and Innovation Field of Study: Leave blank Grade: "Complete" Activities and Societies: Leave blank

Description: Design Thinking and Innovation is a 7-week, 40-hour online certificate program from Harvard Business School. Design Thinking and Innovation will teach you how to leverage fundamental design thinking principles and innovative problem-solving tools to address business challenges and build products, strategies, teams, and environments for optimal use and performance.

The program was developed by leading Harvard Business School faculty and is delivered in an active learning environment based on the HBS signature case-based learning model.

What is the project?

Beginning in Module 2 of Design Thinking and Innovation, you will apply the tools you learn in the course to an innovation problem that is important or interesting to you, or you can use a provided scenario. In subsequent modules, you will use your earlier responses to build on your innovation project and make each phase of design thinking relevant to your own work.

Do I need to collaborate with others to complete the project?

No, each individual submits their own work in Design Thinking and Innovation, and all project work can be submitted without sharing it with others in the course. You are encouraged to share with others and ask for feedback, but collaboration isn’t necessary to advance through the course.

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Building an innovative culture through human-centered design.

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Founder and Director at ParkHub .

Successful technology businesses prioritize innovation and focus on designing solutions that work the way people do. Creating a culture of innovation and human-centered design may seem like distinct concepts, but in my experience, they intertwine deeply—both respect and rely on the diversity of human experience.

Any great endeavor starts with a clear set of values. In my organization, these values manifest in our commitment to clear, respectful and honest communication. Every individual, irrespective of their designation, knows they're hired, rewarded and, if need be, let go based on these values. These guiding principles ensure that "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

Inclusion Fuels Innovation

We're in an age where it's all too common to hear that "no one has a monopoly on a good idea." Although this might sound cliché, I've witnessed its truth firsthand. Our goal is to democratize innovation—to tap into the collective genius of every individual, regardless of their title.

From interns and engineers to CTOs and accountants, everyone brings unique insights to the table. By welcoming diverse perspectives and emphasizing inclusion, we fuel the innovative process. And when those ideas shine, they're rewarded; when they falter, they're analyzed respectfully and strategically.

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Studies have shown that diverse teams are more innovative in the workplace. For example, one study of more than 1,700 companies found that those with above-average diversity produced more revenue from innovation (45% of the total) than those with below-average diversity.

To truly push the boundaries of innovation, companies must avoid falling into the trap of homogeneous thinking. A team that resonates with a single tune may arrive at solutions faster, but they're likely reinforcing the status quo rather than challenging it. Innovation demands a cacophony of perspectives, ensuring that the solutions we craft cater to a wide range of users and challenges.

The Human-Centric Approach

As mentioned, I believe innovation goes hand in hand with a human-centric design process. Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving that prioritizes the needs, behaviors and experiences of the end users.

Organizations that follow design thinking practices have 32 percentage points higher revenue growth gains than companies that don't over a five-year period, according to a McKinsey study. Human-centered design focuses on creating solutions that are intuitive, accessible and beneficial for individuals. Many of the everyday brand names we recognize—IBM, Google, PepsiCo and Nike—rely on this design thinking as a core part of their business culture.

For this design methodology to be successful, it requires diverse perspectives to ensure comprehensive understanding and cater to a wide range of users. This inclusion fosters solutions that are both innovative and resonate with the broadest audience possible.

For example, our technology serves a wide range of users, from parking lot attendants to executives. To be effective, we need to understand the unique needs, challenges and interactions each of these user groups has with our product.

Take parking, for instance. For most, it's a mundane activity, often riddled with inconveniences. But our technological solutions aim to transform this experience. To do so, we needed to understand the entire ecosystem, from the parking attendants handling cash and customers looking for a hassle-free experience to the executives seeking comprehensive reports.

This deep dive into the user experience led to an innovative approach, allowing us to digitize traditional processes. We introduced electronic forms of payment, optimized operational workflows and streamlined transactions—all rooted in human-centric design principles.

True innovation isn't a one-off effort—it's a continuous cycle. I rely on a structured innovation cycle of experimentation, testing, reviewing results and iterative improvements. Drawing insights from customer support feedback and sales engagements, we continuously refine our products to address real-world challenges and enhance user experience—and you should, too.

A Look Ahead

In many sectors, such as parking, the shift from traditional methods to tech-driven solutions has only just begun. The global market for fee-based parking alone is vast, and as we transition from cash-based transactions to digitized solutions, the room for innovation is immense. By embracing human-centered design and fostering a culture of continuous innovation, organizations can not only meet but anticipate the evolving needs of their user base.

The fusion of innovation and human-centered design offers a potent formula for transformative growth. It reminds us that, at its core, innovation is about people: understanding their challenges, meeting their needs and enhancing their experiences. And as we look to the future, these principles will undoubtedly guide the way.

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