The Design Lab: Applying the Wisdom of the University to Societal Issues
Members joined the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for a special evening with the UC San Diego Design Lab to learn about how the Design Lab approaches design as a way of thinking and doing, harnessing the knowledge and energy of the university to address major societal issues. This program included:
- An introduction to the principles of design thinking by Design Lab Director Don Norman
- Presentations of the Design Lab’s ongoing work
- Reception featuring individual project posters, exhibits, and demonstrations (including a presentation in the StarCAVE, a fully immersive virtual reality environment)
- Q&A/discussion
- Opportunity to visit the Design Lab after the formal program concludes
About the Design Lab
The UC San Diego Design Lab is an interdisciplinary organization, impacting and connecting the research and education missions of General Campus, Health Sciences, and Rady School of Management.
The Design Lab treats design as a way of thinking and doing, applying the knowledge of the university toward the major societal issues of the world. All its activities have in common the four major principles of User-Centered System Design (UCSD):
- To emphasize the experiences of and the impact upon people and society;
- To study the entire system rather than isolated items;
- To address the core underlying issues;
- To build, deploy, evaluate, and, as appropriate, modify our approaches in a continual cycle of iterative improvement.
Rather than being organized by disciplines, the Design Lab is organized by substantive problems in the three major themes of its activities: Education, Research, and Community Involvement, all on display during this program.
