Sessions

The future of design education should be as changing and iterative as design itself.  But, finds Lauren Platts, IDSA, the model for design education also should look to the past for insights.  She reveals how the removal of grade-level segregation, coupled with a departmental, apprenticeship-style relationship with a company, set up the perfect incubator for creativity, exploration, problem solving and practical skill acquisition, while allowing students, educators and industry professionals to learn from each other.

Handicraft and cottage industries in Nepal have taken an enormous beating in recent decades because of stagnant product development. But with no academic product design programs in the country, the ability of companies to innovate and provide distinct value to consumers through the development of products and services meeting needs is a major factor limiting economic development.

Collaborating with Kathmandu University’s Centre for Art and Design, an effort was undertaken to develop and pilot a unique product design curriculum focused on developing design resources for handicraft and small cottage industries. Ann-Marie Conrado, IDSA, will share the progress made through the pilot program and its outcomes as well as how these experiences have translated into the rebuilding efforts in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.

Industrial designers must now deal with problems that are far more complex than is covered by their traditional, craft-based education. The emphasis today is on interaction—as well as form, function, and materials—which means that industrial designers must understand the psychological principles of human interaction with technology.

Don Norman, IDSA, PhD, believes even more change is required. He says as we move forward into an ever more complex world, designers have to design complex, sociotechnical systems. All these changes have important implications for training. Norman says perhaps we should divide the practice of industrial designers into those who emphasize their wonderful craft-based skills that provide us with beautiful, delightful products—and those will work on the more complex systems and services where the design thinking skills are paramount and the craft skills are unnecessary.

IBM is on a mission to build a sustainable design culture and bring a human-centered focus to all product experiences. Since 2012, IBM Design has hired nearly 300 designers directly from university design programs—including 30 industrial designers—to join software product teams alongside engineers and product managers.

Designcamp for University Hires, led by Joni Saylor, is a professional education program that prepares recent graduates to actively contribute to IBM product teams and practice design thinking at scale. Saylor will share how the experience provides an important bridge between the academic and professional experiences and empowers emerging designers to make change within a 100 year-old company.

Julija Naskova of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design asks what is the capacity of online learning to meet educational principles?

Prior research has analyzed different aspects of cloud computing and its application in education.  Most of the research focused on its technical advantages and how to make the system more viable.  Few researchers emphasized the need to design a new structure for the cloud’s effective integration in education.

Debates continue on how the use of digital tools often compromises design integrity, form exploration and empathy. Nonetheless, the digital tools of design continue to evolve at a dramatic pace, but often are underutilized.

Alex Lobos, IDSA, details the methodologies employed and the results of a year-long collaboration among a top industrial design program, a leading software company and many open minds to explore the integration of analog and digital tools in design, blending the best of each to maximize the effect with both.

In the dynamic and evolving profession of design—increasingly growing in scope and contribution to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit—ongoing professional education is essential. Investing in the future of design has become a necessity for organizations to survive and thrive.

Jay Peters, IDSA, says the best possible return on investment is in people. Internal education programs offer a way to develop, attract and retain design talent. These education programs need to look beyond the capability to execute design, and lead and manage. This is where there is often a shortage of options. 

We talk so much about design—processes; methodology; thinking; social; service; research; innovation; user-centered; strategy; management; future, etc. But we don’t talk enough about designers. In order to better prepare for Future of the Future, we need to rethink, “What makes great designers?”

College for Creative Studies Provost Sooshin Choi, IDSA, strongly believes designers are the most valuable asset for a brighter future—and design education can play a crucial role— only when we clearly know, “Who are the designers?”