Human Centered Design
(B.Des 4 Year UG Program)

In the digital age, technology plays a critical role in the physical environments where humans experience the world. The evolving technological landscape invites designers to explore the complex socio-technical infrastructures driving these interactions, such as big data, machine learning, and advanced algorithms. The Human-Centered Design (HCD) program at Srishti Manipal Institute delves into a design approach that prioritizes the user’s needs, wants, and limitations. It involves designing systems, services, spaces, and products to facilitate meaningful interactions and experiences between people, designed interactions, and the natural environment. With critical-making practices, you’ll engage with complexity and ideate, tinker, play, and express using digital technology. Upon graduation, you will be able to apply your skills in various industries, including MNCs, startups, and R&D centres in India and abroad. These roles may involve the development of technology-based products, interfaces, and services as you take the steps to become a leader in strategic design thinking and innovation.

Human Centered Design focuses on solving complex problems keeping the human concerns at the centre. The program focuses on designing systems, services, spaces and products by exploring the possibilities and implications of shaping digital technology.

The vision is to create an interdisciplinary environment of learning that fosters a creative and located inquiry into human experiences with digital technology, both existing and emerging. Along with informed positioning, imaginative critical making remains at the core of this program, treated as a tool to ideate, tinker, play and express with digital technology.

Three closely interlinked paths define the learning space. They are :

1. Locating the self at specific, socio-politically contested sites that embed Human Computer Interactions. By being open to playing around with different theories and contexts, this path focuses on understanding, unpacking, and being responsive to the specific theories and contexts within which human centered design and use of digital tools and technologies is located.
2. Moving Beyond Screens and towards exploring tangible, physical encounters with the digital material. This path focuses on exploring the possibilities and implications of designing digital technology as an integral part of the physical environment for human experiences.
3. Moving Behind Screens, towards exploring opportunities and implications of designing for interacting with complex socio-technical infrastructures. This path focuses on exploring the design for screen-based interactions while digging deeper into the emerging complex technological infrastructure that is increasingly driving such interactions, namely big data, machine learning and advanced algorithms.

Though the undergraduate program primarily emphasizes on exploring the second and third pathways, the three paths are closely interlinked and intertwined. Each learner will have an opportunity to explore the intersections of the paths, and thereby begin to work on developing their own unique, individual practice.

The curriculum comprises of different ways of learning as follows:

1. Foundation introduces students to basic principles and tools of Art, Design and Technology as methods, tools and processes. Read more >>
2. Disciplinary Studios are learning spaces where students develop core disciplinary capabilities, while navigating a trans-disciplinary environment
3. General Studies is a common and compulsory programme of study that integrates Humanities, Sciences, Maths, business and finance. Development and Policy Studies and also offers Languages (Spanish, French and German) Read more >>
4. Interim is an immersive introduction to practice in new and emerging areas of art and design and environmental exposure
5. Electives are of three kinds – this program allows students to expand their skills, develop the interests as well as provide opportunities for travel exchange
6. Internship/Apprenticeship is compulsory work experience done over the summer-break between the 6th and 7th semester
7. Project based learning involves the application and synthesis of capabilities acquired. Two projects, pre-thesis and thesis, is culmination of the 4-year undergraduate program, which allows for demonstration of an integration of values, positions, capabilities and practice. Read more >>

In this program, students will gain hands-on experience working on real-life projects with industry partners in immersive studios and workshops. Our approach actively engages with digital technology rather than limiting it to a tool for problem-solving. To foster a dynamic and impactful learning experience, we propose an approach that encourages students to think creatively and freely, take risks, and combine diverse experiences. You will construct artefacts and systems to apply your knowledge and see the real-world impact of your ideas. In your courses, you will learn about human-centred design, interaction design, and experience design, as well as design research, ideation, coding, and interactive data visualization. You will use this knowledge to design for the future, communicate concepts effectively using media, and develop experience solutions that are useful and engaging.

CAPABILITIES

The complexity and the diversity of the design situations demand a pliable, customized design process. Equipped with following capabilities, we encourage our students to define and perform their own design process:

Imagine: Construct concepts in an unhindered and unbounded manner.
Speculate: Take risks while constructing plausible concepts even with limited information.
Discern & Align: Take an informed stance after perceiving, questioning, and distinguishing between information from different sources.
See & Connect: Consciously unearth and combine diverse experiences and information.
Be Honest: Be aware of and be transparent in articulating your position.
Make: Construct artifacts, things, and systems as demonstrators of ideas and concepts.

What is Human-Centred Design?

Human-Centred Design is a design approach that prioritizes the needs and experiences of users in the development and utilization of products and services. In our program, you will learn how to design systems, services, spaces, and products that facilitate meaningful interactions between people, designed objects, and the natural environment.

Is this course suitable for me?

This course is suitable for individuals with an interest in designing product and service experiences through a human-centred approach, utilizing creative, critical, and analytical thinking. If you are passionate about the process and impact of design, this course may be a good fit for you.

What opportunities do I have after completing this course?

The above-mentioned capability sets could lead to opportunities such as:

• Employment in the Information Technology industry with a focus on user experience, user interface and experience design.
• Employment in design studios, R&D, and product development teams in small and large companies focusing on novel, cutting-edge interaction and interactive product design.
• Employment in start-ups, small and medium enterprises, NGOs & social enterprises focusing on both product design and service-system design.

Furthermore, we set a platform to develop an individual practice towards pushing the social, cultural, economic and political status quo about the role that digital technology could and should play in our lives. We expect the learners to push organizations or build organizations from the ground up that are accountable and responsible for the things they design.