Essays & Articles
Frontier Design Prize & Speech
DBWI received the Frontier Design Innovation award by the World Design Conference and the Shanghai Municipal Government. My acceptance talk is based on my book, Design for a Better World: Understandable, Sustainable, Humanity Centered (MIT Press, March 21, 2023: talk video is in the post).
September 24, 2022
5 minutes read
Taking a Stand for Ukraine
DesignThe Service Design Network has put together a small panel (6 people) of designers--two from Ukraine--to talk about what design might do for Ukraine. I am one of the six people: Here is my talk.
April 25, 2022
9 minutes read
Humanity-Centered versus Human-Centered Design
DBWHuman-Centered Design works well for mass-produced products and traditional products and services. But today, we owe our allegiance far beyond individual people -- we owe it to all humanity.
February 26, 2022
4 minutes read
To create a better society: The 2020 MP Ranjan memorial lecture
DesignThe great spiritual and humanistic power of design has been lost in its current emphasis upon business and industry. Design can be much more powerful than that: Design is a way of thinking that can be applied to almost any issue, but most importantly, to the major societal issues facing the world.
November 20, 2020
21 minutes read
The Future of Design Education
DesignDoes design education prepare designers to work with the multidisciplinary teams required for the complex issues of the 21st Century? Join us in rethinking design education. Help us find people who will provide diversity of age, gender, race, interests, socioeconomic status, and political views.
July 13, 2020
4 minutes read
21st Century Design (In 6 minutes)
DesignThe 21s Century brings new challenges to design The implication? Design Education must change.
May 13, 2020
1 minute read
“The universe is made of stories, not atoms”
EssaysA quote from the poet Muriel Rukeyzer’s book “The speed of darkness.” Why stories? Because they combine history and context, critical events and results, both good and bad, expected and unexpected all linked through causal...
March 19, 2020
1 minute read
Recycling: A poor solution to the wrong problem: An essay in two parts
DesignA two-part essay: 1. why recycling is too complex for me (and perhaps everyone)to understand; 2. Why recycling is the wrong answer to the problem of waste.
March 10, 2020
15 minutes read
Changing Design Education for the 21st Century
DesignUpdated: April 2, 2020. We recommend a procedure for updating design education through curricula that match their goals and abilities of every school, producing practitioner and academics who will fully realizing the value of design in the 21st century.
March 10, 2020
4 minutes read
Why Designers don’t have much power in companies
DesignEvery division of a company plays an essential role. Each has a different, valid perspective. To be successful, learn to balance the conflicting views and select a course that is best for the product, customer, and company, even if you must discard your favorite ideas, sketches, and designs.
January 11, 2020
1 minute read