STUDYING DESIGN

AS AN ENGLISH
MAJOR?
Dr. Will Kurlinkus
 THE GOAL IS TO
HUMANIZE DESIGN.
 Resolving Problems
in the World through
Design
“There is the capitalist approach
(make it bigger), the technocratic one
(make it better), the ‘revolutionary’
solution (portray the problem as an
example of an exploitative system)
and the pre-industrial romantic fallacy
(don’t use it; maybe it will go away by
itself.) We propose a fifth alternative
response: Let’s invent a different
answer” (27).
—Victor Papanek & James Hennessey

Designs are underdetermined by god terms like “efficiency,” “cost,” “innovation.”

There are innumerous equally efficient, cost-effective, and innovative options.
What is design?
■ Design: the act of transforming the world from its current state
into a desired one.
■ Designer-centered design: creating something with the designer’s
expertise in mind. Beautiful architecture and art. (see the juicy
salif)
■ User-centered design: creating something by thinking carefully
about and observing how users (though sometimes stereotypical

Metis: The expertise of users.

users) use a product. Use is the goal.
■ Participatory/co-design: collaborating directly with users, co-
creating with them.
■ Human-centered design: thinking and learning about the
messiness of users—similar to user-centered design but a better
life is the goal.
■ Design Activism: “Creating a counter-narrative aimed at
generating and balancing positive social, institutional,
environmental and/or economic change” (Alastair Fuad-Luke).
Thinking designing for disability, designing for aging, designing for
gender equity.
DESIGNER
CENTRIC
DESIGN
w would you redesign?
USER-CENTERED DESIGN
 HUMAN-
CENTERED
DESIGN
 HOW WOULD YOU REDESIGN
THE AIR TRAVEL EXPERIENCE?
DESIGN PROBLEM
OR INNOVATION
SCAVENGER HUNT:
10 MINUTES
DESIGNS ARE ALWAYS
ARGUMENTS ABOUT HOW WE
SHOULD SEE, KNOW, AND
UNDERSTAND THE WORLD.
What jobs do English
Majors get in design?
■ Information design
■ Communication design
■ Design research
■ User Experience
Information & Communication Design