Women in Design Chapters
IDSA recently announced the development of its Women in Design (WID) Chapter Program to recognize, support, and amplify the growing community of women, non-binary, and gender-queer identifying designers in cities nationwide. The WID Chapter Program will focus on advancing women designers in the ID field by fostering local connections and providing invaluable access to content and community.
IDSA’s community have expressed a desire to better support women designers in San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA through the formal establishment of two Women in Design chapters. These chapters will support the large community of women in industrial design in San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA by:
- Creating a support network which encompasses industrial design, and adjacent fields (e.g., UX, visual design, and design operations).
- Developing events, resources, and programs that inspire honest conversations that bring about meaningful change in the ID industry.
- Fostering diversity in the design field through work with community members and allies.
About WID-SF
With its roots as a part of IDSA’s Women in Design Section, Women in Design San Francisco (WID-SF) began in 2013 as an IDSA-endorsed meet up group for women in industrial design. Since then, Women in Design San Francisco has expanded into an independent support network for Bay Area designers.
2021-2022 Chapter Leaders
- Lauryn Menard, IDSA – Chair
- Alejandra Castelao, IDSA – Vice Chair
- Gabrielle Orzech, IDSA – Events Chair
- Baillie Davis, IDSA – Secretary / Treasurer
About WID-SEA
2021-2022 Chapter Leaders
- Kate Shreffler, IDSA – Chair
- Ginger Woo, IDSA – Vice Chair
Human-Centered Design Section
IDSA’s Sections are composed of members who share expertise and passion for a given topic. They provide immense value by creating relevant professional communities built on informative content and engagement.
IDSA members have expressed interest in forming a Human-Centered Design Section. This proposal and petition are the first step in the Section’s establishment.
About the Human-Centered Design Section
Initially a tool of designers, human-centered design is now a tool sought out by clients and stakeholders. Human-Centered Design can be learned and applied universally by designers to solve any problem. Human-centered design is a deeply empathetic, objective, and pragmatic way to understand consumers’ wants and needs. It is a non-linear, iterative process that is driven by synthesis, empathy, and experimentation. It is both a philosophy and methodology that allows designers and business stakeholders to see the signal through the noise and converge on the right solutions with shared vision.
Through the Human-Centered Design Section, IDSA members will learn:
- How designers and business stakeholders can collaboratively design for the future.
- The ways in which essential human needs and emotions are used to create products and services that are successful in a dynamic world.
- How designers solve everyday challenges to the world’s most pressing problems through empathetic and human-centered design.
Rahvi Sawhney, FIDSA will serve as the Section Chair.