Diversity is far more than race, age, gender, or beliefs. For this reason alone, we as designers have a responsibility to improve our understanding of all aspects of design.
In today’s world, we can spot design failure from a mile away. A world where systems are broken, perspectives are selective, and biases rule the room. Because of this, we must grapple with unprecedented social, health, and environmental challenges and the role of design could not be more vital. If there was ever a time when diverse perspectives are needed to design our way to a better future, it is now. So, what’s holding you back?
Join Assistant Professor of Design, Simon Dai, as he digs deeper into what Diversity in Design truly means and how it can be a powerful force for change when applied effectively. Take a step forward and discuss how to support and surface diverse perspectives so that we work towards eliminating negative emotions, risks, adversities, and ignorance; so that we can race towards a more inclusive and sustainable world.
Hybrid Sessions (Remote & In-Person):
Zoom (Remote)
Decide as a group on In-Person Sessions in Downtown, Chicago (In-Person)
All Levels:
Good for those looking to better understand themselves and others in order to create a more inclusive and sustainable world
Potential Mentor Topics:
The status quo of diversified design (the pain points caused by the interests of designers, enterprises and users)
Improve your understanding of yourself (designers’ self-perception, understand the needs of users and companies, and find a breakthrough in multiculturalism)
Adding diversity and inclusiveness into design (if you want diversity of ideas, designers must involve people with different experiences and perspectives)
How to find a balance between the enterprise and the user (The designer’s need to meet the needs of everyone and how to find a balance)
Create a more inclusive and creative market with diversified design (Diversified cultural perspectives can stimulate creativity and promote innovation and change in society and the market)
The ultimate reward of inclusive thinking is to change the world and the community (The final result of advancing multicultural design thinking)
Potential Takeaways:
Develop a better understanding of yourself and others
Recognize the value of different perspectives
Improve your methods of cooperation
Repair or replace outdated thinking in order to design more innovative products and service solutions
Insight into using diverse and inclusive design to eliminate negative emotions, risk, adversity, and ignorance
Simon Dai is an Assistant Professor of Design at Lewis University. He works towards shaping technology into products that carries the world over hurdles, large and small, so that we can live better, more fulfilled lives with our friends, at work, and beyond.
