Human Centered Design Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Overview

The Human Centered Design , MDes course from Manipal Academy of Higher Education inquiry is driven by the activity of speculative and critical making with the digital material. With the emphasis of being sensitive towards communities and environmental systems, students develop their own unique practice of human centered design along the intersections of the following paths.

• Creative and critical thinkers, this path enables them to critically question, analyse, interpret and evaluate experiences to conceive innovative responses to future challenges. With the ability to identify the vexing issues facing society today, they are encouraged to debate social challenges using human centered and, systems Design approach. Further shape new ideas, understandings, approaches and opinions using critical and speculative design.
• Locating the self at specific, socio-politically contested sites that embed Human Computer Interactions. By critically engaging with different theories and contexts, this path focuses on understanding, unpacking, and being responsive to the specific contexts within which human-centered design and use of digital tools and technologies is located.
• 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.
• 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.

These 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. This is supported by opportunities to engage in transdisciplinary projects.

Career opportunities:

A program in Human Centered Design is an ideal qualification for those students who wish to pursue a career that entails researching, imagining, planning and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders towards designing just, equitable digital systems and infrastructures. The program offers you a platform to develop an individual practice, towards pushing the social, cultural, economic and political status quo about the role digital technology could and should play in our lives. You become oriented to push organizations or build organizations from the ground up, to be accountable and responsible for the things they design.

You could work in product and service industry and start-ups, join a design firm offering user and design research and product design services to a range of clientele, or work in the not-for-profit sector building digital products and systems. The program also allows you to apply into a PhD program in a related area.