First-Ever UC San Diego Design Conference sponsored by Design Lab Unites Students with Leading Design and Business Professionals

First-Ever UC San Diego Design Conference sponsored by Design Lab Unites Students with Leading Design and Business Professionals

First-Ever UC San Diego Design Conference sponsored by Design Lab Unites Students with Leading Design and Business Professionals

By Kaila Lee, Design at UCSD

In late May, over 150 students and leading industry professionals representing top design-centric companies such as Workday, IDEO, and Intuit attended UC San Diego’s first design conference. Among those in attendance were Scott Robinson of Freshform and Alex Waters of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. The all-day event was hosted by Design at UCSD, a pre-professional design organization on campus, in partnership with Delta Sigma Pi, UC San Diego’s premier business fraternity, and drew attendees from a variety of disciplines including cognitive science, computer science, economics, international business, and more. The conference was aimed at teaching attendees the interdisciplinary nature of design and why it is essential to business.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address presented by lecturer Michael Meyer of the UC San Diego Design Lab and the Rady School of Management. During his address, Meyer dispelled the myth of the “genius designer” and conveyed that the true vision and creativity driving human-centered design emerges through acknowledging that we are designing for people who have diverse human needs.

Meyer empowered attendees through stressing the importance of embodying the qualities characterized by a balance of professional competence and a genuine, insatiable thirst for knowledge. Moreover, he illustrated that successful designs are achieved as a result of combined expertise across a wide range of skill sets. He inspired attendees to strive to integrate various disciplines across the spectrum of design and business into their professional endeavors.

The opening address was followed by a panel discussion featuring Neema Mahdavi (Workday), Nastasha Tan (IDEO), Sharon Carmichael (Intuit), Oz Chen (UXBeginner.com), and Erwin Hines (BASIC Agency). The panelists shared their unique insight into the roles they play as designers in their respective organizations and how they envision design and business intersecting to optimize success in the workplace and beyond. Panelists emphasized the importance of showcasing tangible, real experiences to support skills learned in the classroom.

In addition, the speakers collectively echoed the value of candidates who exude the depth of technical expertise in addition to a breadth of knowledge paired with strong communication and problem solving skills. Panelists further engaged with the audience to address questions and provide advice pertaining to professional development and differentiating oneself as an aspiring designer and business professional.

Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in interactive hour-long breakout sessions facilitated by experienced design and business professionals. Breakout sessions highlighted topics such as navigating the design process, delving into UX Research, and creating an effective design portfolio. Following the breakout sessions, the conference concluded with a networking session in the forum of Price Center Theater where attendees were encouraged to speak to industry professionals. Conference participants left the event feeling motivated and excited to continue exploring the rapidly evolving fields of design and business, equipped with a plethora of new tools and key takeaways to apply to their own professional journey.

By Kaila Lee, Design at UCSD

In late May, over 150 students and leading industry professionals representing top design-centric companies such as Workday, IDEO, and Intuit attended UC San Diego’s first design conference. Among those in attendance were Scott Robinson of Freshform and Alex Waters of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. The all-day event was hosted by Design at UCSD, a pre-professional design organization on campus, in partnership with Delta Sigma Pi, UC San Diego’s premier business fraternity, and drew attendees from a variety of disciplines including cognitive science, computer science, economics, international business, and more. The conference was aimed at teaching attendees the interdisciplinary nature of design and why it is essential to business.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address presented by lecturer Michael Meyer of the UC San Diego Design Lab and the Rady School of Management. During his address, Meyer dispelled the myth of the “genius designer” and conveyed that the true vision and creativity driving human-centered design emerges through acknowledging that we are designing for people who have diverse human needs.

Meyer empowered attendees through stressing the importance of embodying the qualities characterized by a balance of professional competence and a genuine, insatiable thirst for knowledge. Moreover, he illustrated that successful designs are achieved as a result of combined expertise across a wide range of skill sets. He inspired attendees to strive to integrate various disciplines across the spectrum of design and business into their professional endeavors.

The opening address was followed by a panel discussion featuring Neema Mahdavi (Workday), Nastasha Tan (IDEO), Sharon Carmichael (Intuit), Oz Chen (UXBeginner.com), and Erwin Hines (BASIC Agency). The panelists shared their unique insight into the roles they play as designers in their respective organizations and how they envision design and business intersecting to optimize success in the workplace and beyond. Panelists emphasized the importance of showcasing tangible, real experiences to support skills learned in the classroom.

In addition, the speakers collectively echoed the value of candidates who exude the depth of technical expertise in addition to a breadth of knowledge paired with strong communication and problem solving skills. Panelists further engaged with the audience to address questions and provide advice pertaining to professional development and differentiating oneself as an aspiring designer and business professional.

Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in interactive hour-long breakout sessions facilitated by experienced design and business professionals. Breakout sessions highlighted topics such as navigating the design process, delving into UX Research, and creating an effective design portfolio. Following the breakout sessions, the conference concluded with a networking session in the forum of Price Center Theater where attendees were encouraged to speak to industry professionals. Conference participants left the event feeling motivated and excited to continue exploring the rapidly evolving fields of design and business, equipped with a plethora of new tools and key takeaways to apply to their own professional journey.

By Kaila Lee, Design at UCSD

In late May, over 150 students and leading industry professionals representing top design-centric companies such as Workday, IDEO, and Intuit attended UC San Diego’s first design conference. Among those in attendance were Scott Robinson of Freshform and Alex Waters of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. The all-day event was hosted by Design at UCSD, a pre-professional design organization on campus, in partnership with Delta Sigma Pi, UC San Diego’s premier business fraternity, and drew attendees from a variety of disciplines including cognitive science, computer science, economics, international business, and more. The conference was aimed at teaching attendees the interdisciplinary nature of design and why it is essential to business.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address presented by lecturer Michael Meyer of the UC San Diego Design Lab and the Rady School of Management. During his address, Meyer dispelled the myth of the “genius designer” and conveyed that the true vision and creativity driving human-centered design emerges through acknowledging that we are designing for people who have diverse human needs.

Meyer empowered attendees through stressing the importance of embodying the qualities characterized by a balance of professional competence and a genuine, insatiable thirst for knowledge. Moreover, he illustrated that successful designs are achieved as a result of combined expertise across a wide range of skill sets. He inspired attendees to strive to integrate various disciplines across the spectrum of design and business into their professional endeavors.

The opening address was followed by a panel discussion featuring Neema Mahdavi (Workday), Nastasha Tan (IDEO), Sharon Carmichael (Intuit), Oz Chen (UXBeginner.com), and Erwin Hines (BASIC Agency). The panelists shared their unique insight into the roles they play as designers in their respective organizations and how they envision design and business intersecting to optimize success in the workplace and beyond. Panelists emphasized the importance of showcasing tangible, real experiences to support skills learned in the classroom.

In addition, the speakers collectively echoed the value of candidates who exude the depth of technical expertise in addition to a breadth of knowledge paired with strong communication and problem solving skills. Panelists further engaged with the audience to address questions and provide advice pertaining to professional development and differentiating oneself as an aspiring designer and business professional.

Attendees also had the opportunity to participate in interactive hour-long breakout sessions facilitated by experienced design and business professionals. Breakout sessions highlighted topics such as navigating the design process, delving into UX Research, and creating an effective design portfolio. Following the breakout sessions, the conference concluded with a networking session in the forum of Price Center Theater where attendees were encouraged to speak to industry professionals. Conference participants left the event feeling motivated and excited to continue exploring the rapidly evolving fields of design and business, equipped with a plethora of new tools and key takeaways to apply to their own professional journey.

Read Next

Design Lab Faculty

New Design Lab Faculty Working to Shape the Future of UC San Diego

As a global pioneer in design thinking, research, and invention, The Design Lab prides itself on recruiting the brightest and most innovative minds in the design field. Today, we would like to extend a warm welcome to brand new faculty members Elizabeth Eikey, Haijun Xia, and Edward Wang!

Elizabeth Eikey
From a first-generation undergraduate student at Penn State, then an inquisitive Best Buy employee and finally, to the Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health & The Design Lab at UCSD, Dr. Elizabeth Eikey has an illustrious career. Her research work at The Design Lab focuses on the intersection between technology, mental health, and equity, primarily studying the possible applications for technology in supporting mental health and well-being.

Haijun Xia
After receiving his PhD in Computer Science from University of Toronto, Xia made the move across countries to begin his time as a researcher at UC San Diego. ‘I wanted to work at The Design Lab and UC San Diego, because of the diversity of skill here,’ says the Professor, ‘We are all approaching the many challenging research questions from different angles, which is really important to develop comprehensive solutions.

Edward Wang
When Edward Wang was an undergraduate student at Harvey Mudd, he never expected himself to become a researcher, let alone becoming a professor. It was only after a Professor offered him the chance to help design a course she was planning about biosignal processing, that he began on this path. ‘As I was designing the class over summer, I had to read a bunch of papers,’ he says, ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about how cool all of it was. Especially when it branched out into computer science and how it could be involved in biosignal processes.’

Meet Member of Postdoctoral Fellowship Program’s Debut Cohort: Jane E

Jane E is part of UCSD’s Computer Science and Engineering’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and is currently a member of  The Design Lab under the guidance of mentor Scott Klemmer. E’s journey to The Design Lab started when she earned her B.S. in Computer Science in 2012 at Princeton, then studied as a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Stanford University. Along the way, she has worked in the information technology sector for companies like Adobe and Microsoft, and her awards include the Microsoft Research Dissertation Grant. Jane’s research aims to expand the horizons of human creativity by searching for a balanced relationship between humans and computational assistance. 
Design Lab Eric Hekler Public Health Technology

Eric Hekler Joins Design Lab Team

UC San Diego Design Lab is excited to welcome Eric Hekler, an Associate Professor in…

How To Reduce Obesity Among Latino Children

How to Reduce Obesity among Latino Children, with Precision

UC San Diego and community collaborators receive $3 million grant to develop more community-centered, precision approaches to reducing adverse childhood events that lead to obesity, a nationwide problem

“Working with the Latino community, we want to create a family-based approach to improve individual and community resilience to stress and address the obesity epidemic,” said lead principal investigator Gary S. Firestein, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and ACTRI director.

Blanca Meléndrez, director of the Center for Community Health at UC San Diego and a co-principal investigator on the study with Eric Hekler, PhD, Design Lab member, professor and interim associate dean for community partnerships in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health, said that beyond determining which methods best promote resiliency and reduce obesity among children, researchers and community collaborators will seek to create interventions that can be delivered to different families that match a family’s unique circumstances and needs.
Announcing The New Graduate Student Specialization In Human-centered Design

Announcing the new Graduate Student Specialization in Human-centered Design

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

Announcing the new Graduate Student Specialization in Human-centered Design in partnership with the UC San Diego Design Lab, Cognitive Science (CogSci), Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), and Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science (HWSPH).

The Design Graduate Specialization is a set of courses graduate students can choose to take that fit into their home degree program requirements. It is analogous to receiving a minor, but at the graduate level. The courses fit into their home program as either electives or as courses that were already part of their core requirements, plus the option to take courses from other programs taking part in the specialization outside of their home program. In addition, students will be required to take at least one course that explicitly addresses and discusses issues of power, privilege, and ethical responses. The Design Graduate Specialization is created so that it can be integrated into a one or two-year Master program or a Ph.D. program.
Ucsd San Diego

Civic Design – DSGN 160: Open Enrollment

This studio course explores how to design products, services, and policies for complex socio-technical systems. The class will follow a human-centered design process that includes user research, concept generation, prototyping, pitching, and alliance building. Students will work in teams to design solutions to civic challenges affecting people in the San Diego region. This will be a good course for intermediate to advanced design students who want to build up their portfolio and to practice their skills with sketching, storyboarding, prototyping, and evaluating services for real-world problems.

As part of this class, teams will enter the Design for San Diego 2020 challenge (D4SD.org) and interact with other innovators, experts, and mentors throughout the city to address problems related to Mobility, Health, Environment, and Housing. Top teams will have an opportunity to present their work and win prizes at events in downtown San Diego!
Back To Top