design lab design@large wednesday philip guo

Design at Large Tackles Human-Centered Computational Tools

WHAT IS DESIGN@LARGE?

A new wave of societal challenges, cultural values, and technological advancements is creating exciting opportunities for designers everywhere to make a global impact. Design at Large, a quarterly seminar series hosted by the UC San Diego Design Lab, features distinguished academic and industry speakers within design. The series aims to showcase the ever-evolving, interdisciplinary nature of design in a real-world context.

The program was pioneered as a collaborative effort among the design faculty at UCSD who shared the collective vision of drawing together a community of individuals from various disciplines of design to showcase their cutting-edge research and innovative insights. Each quarter, the series highlights a different central theme within design to inspire attendees through demonstrating how the brightest minds in the field are tackling global issues.

FALL 2017 RECAP

This quarter, the theme is human centered computational tools—a subject that is relevant to all types of students, especially those interested in computer science, cognitive science, and design. “We have talks from people that build computational tools,” says UCSD assistant professor of cognitive science, Philip Guo. “They all have a common approach to understanding their users and design to benefit their user populations.”

Guo researches human-computer interaction, online learning, and computing education. His focus currently is on on building scalable systems that help people learn computer programming and data science. As the faculty member in charge of Design at Large this quarter, he invites the speakers.

“I think Design at Large gives a great benefit to the students and it is open to the public. When you are attending these talks, you’re looking at cutting- edge work that may not be out in the world yet, but it may be out ten years from now. When you’re watching these talks you are kind of glimpsing into the future,” says Guo.

“I think the future for Design at Large would be a broader range of speakers from different areas. I would like to have broader speakers from variety of careers. I would love to see more designers, entrepreneurs, and engineers in addition to academic researchers,” says Guo.

Design at Large exists to excite students, the UC San Diego campus, and the community and public at large around design in a broader context. For Professor Guo, “I think the main thing I want [my students] to get out of it is inspiration and optimism for the future. I hope they come out excited about the field and where the field is going in the next decades.”

Design at Large talks takes place every Wednesday from 4-5 pm on UCSD Campus in CSE 1202. Anyone is invited to attend.

WHAT IS DESIGN@LARGE?

FALL 2017 RECAP

Design at Large talks takes place every Wednesday from 4-5 pm on UCSD Campus in CSE 1202. Anyone is invited to attend.

WHAT IS DESIGN@LARGE?

FALL 2017 RECAP

Design at Large talks takes place every Wednesday from 4-5 pm on UCSD Campus in CSE 1202. Anyone is invited to attend.

San Diego council committee unanimously approves ordinances targeting surveillance technology

Photo courtesy of John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune

A City Council committee on Wednesday unanimously approved two proposed ordinances geared at governing surveillance technologies in the city, an action sparked by sustained pushback from activists and others who were surprised and upset last year when it was revealed that San Diego had quietly installed cameras on streetlights throughout the city.

Lilly Irani, an associate professor at UC San Diego (and Design Lab faculty) who specializes in the ethics of technology, called the vote “a win for better governance in the long term.”

Irani helped draft the ordinances and assisted the organized opposition dubbed the TRUST San Diego coalition, which focuses on responsible surveillance in the region. The coalition was born out of concerns about one specific technology — so-called smart streetlights — and ultimately landed a seat at the table to draft the proposals.

“Without Councilmember Monica Montgomery championing this... there would be no table,” Irani said.

Waste is an enormous problem. But recycling is the wrong solution.

Part 2 of a FastCompany editorial on Recycling by Don Norman

I am proud to be one of the developers of what is today called human-centered design. That is design that always starts off understanding the needs, capabilities, and desires of people. It has four basic principles, all four of which are being violated by today’s recycling craze.

Recycling is broken. There’s little clarity about what can and can’t be recycled, and the rules change from one city to the next, and sometimes even within the same city. According to the World Bank, we produce 1.4 billion tons of waste a year worldwide, a figure that’s expected to increase to 2.4 billion tons by 2025. Waste is an enormous problem that needs to be addressed if we’re going to prevent the worst effects of climate change. But recycling is the wrong solution.

Design Lab Don Norman Healthcare Designforward

San Diego is Getting Serious About Healthcare Design

In June 2017, San Diego hosted two of the largest annual healthcare conventions - the…

Report: Military remains economic bright spot in San Diego

Design Lab member Michael Meyer discusses San Diego's defense economy during Covid with ABC 10 News San Diego.

The coronavirus pandemic appears to have been no match for San Diego's defense economy, which a new report says keeps on growing.

The San Diego Military Advisory Council study says from the fiscal year 2020 to 2021, direct defense spending was $35.3 billion dollars, a 5.3 percent annual gain. Jobs grew 2 percent to nearly 349,112. In all, it made for a $55.2 billion dollar gross regional product.

"That means continued stability and economic prosperity for San Diego, buffered by, or provided by the military economy presence," said Michael Meyer, a professor at UC San Diego's Rady School of Management, which researched the report.

The study points out that military spending impacts more than the people employed by the federal government or serving on base or active duty. Instead, there's a multiplier effect in San Diego, with nearly 190,000 San Diegans employed by private companies contracting with the defense department -- such as in programming or shipbuilding.

"Retraining for electronics, computers, aviation, the engineering fields, the technical financial fields. That's all valuable and an effective way of getting into the military economy," Meyer said.