DESIGNMIND: NEWSCHOOL’S NORTHERN STAR – HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN

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DESIGNMIND NEWSCHOOLS NORTHERN STAR
HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN
For thousands of years, the Northern Star has
been a bright and fixed point for travelers on
their journeys. A Northern Star can also be a
metaphorical guide for organizations as they
journey toward their own desired destination. A
north star aspiration is important because it
brings clarity to what can otherwise be a diverse
community of opinions about the world. It brings
focus to student and faculty scholarship and
differentiates us from other architecture and
design schools. At our convocation in October, I
revealed NewSchools Northern Star
human-centered design. This assertion did not come
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superficially. Rather it has evolved out of a
history of concern for the human experience and
the responsibility for human welfare in the
design of buildings, media options and artifacts
that define our experience in the world. There
are many interpretations for the definition of
human-centered design, and a vigorous discourse
has begun among students at faculty within the
NewSchool community. That observed, it is agreed
upon that human-centered design is a problem-
solving approach that starts and ends with
people. Designers immerse themselves in the
needs and challenges of people who will
experience their project so that they gain a
deep understanding and empathy. It is a creative
and collaborative process that involves
brainstorming and rapid, iterative prototyping to
bring an innovative and successful project to
lifefor people. Our focus on the human
experience in all that we do comes after much
vital discussion with our faculty that extends
beyond my nine months as president to my time on
the board of directors. Human-centered design is
the primary organizing thought that pins our
efforts to a deeply held value for architecture
and design. We will emphasize that our students
be citizen architects and designers who are
keenly focused on the experience of those who
will live, work, and worship with the result of
the efforts of architects and designers. We are
so committed to this that we are creating a new
organizational structure. We have clarified our
design offerings by organizing the study of
design into product, media, interior design,
interior decoration, architecture, and design
studies into a School of Architecture and
Construction Management and the Domus Academy
School of Design. We have also reconsidered how
we perceive general education and are directing
our efforts toward Integrative Studies. This
supports the notion that general education in a
design school is an opportunity for inter- and
cross-disciplinary study as well as critical and
creative thought. These efforts support the
pillars that underlie our curricular experience
professional practice, environmental empathy,
human welfare and community engagement. These
pillars are further emphasized in the scholarship
of faculty gathered around four affinity
groupings including design and practice, design
and strategy, design and environment, and design
and health. Ultimately it is through the
scholarship of faculty and students that we will
be known. We wish that reputation to be built
upon that which makes us human and that which we
as designers can amplify to make our humanity
even more visceral. At NewSchool, human-centered
design also means designing programs centered on
our students. Through our new Center for
Academic and Student Success, we are investing
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• in programs and services to enhance the learning
  experience for all students. This includes
• A Commitment to Service program that will
  encourage students to be citizen architects and
  designers who address the needs of people in our
  communities.
• Our Green. By Design. initiative, which builds on
  our longstanding commitment to sustainability by
  encouraging theconscious use of resources and
  environmental systems.
• A Graduate Student Council to address the
  specific needs of this growing population.
• The Project Lead Initiative, which will offer a
  variety of opportunities to help
• students identify and develop their leadership
  skills.
• A Faculty Advising Initiative to foster greater
  interaction between students and
• faculty to assess degree progress, as well as
  mentoring to prepare for professional practice.
  A peer advising program will complement faculty
  advising by connecting new and senior students.
• The Writing Initiative recognizes that writing
  skills, especially in ones discipline,
• can be learned through practice and that they are
  a tool for learning and processing information.
• An initiative to Increase International Student
  Focus to improve awareness about the value of
  our multicultural student body, faculty and staff
  through activities and events.
• These are ambitious programs, but guided by our
  mission, vision, and values, as well as our
  Northern Star, we can achieve them.