Pedagogy and Practice
Students and Real Tools: Educating Through Individuated Design
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eric Zeigler
University students arrive in design classrooms with mental models about how the world around them works. Increasingly, these students’ mental models abdicate to paradigms created by global technology and social media companies, instead of being built from a vast and variable array of learnings about the world based on one’s local context and individuated experiences. This phenomenon is not new, but its implications are starting to be seen by companies that place design at the forefront of their value model. How can design education create an environment where an individual’s curiosity and learning don’t depend on the pervasive narratives of a few large companies, but rather on rich and specific insights about the world? Developing insights in this way has the potential to solve truly important problems large entities ignore. To experiment with ways to generate this type of curiosity and thought, we created a space at the University of Toledo called Axon Lab, housing our Foundations of Art Studio Technology course. The course and the lab are a haven for the subversion of dominant thought processes that pervade our world. The key ongoing experiment in the course is the Tool Project, wherein students design a tool that works to solve a problem they identified in their own lives, or the lives of people close to them. Using the cumulative understanding of shop tools, mechanisms, and materials from the course, they prototype and create a tool, answering a real design problem—not one constructed for them by a distant corporation.
The Role of Bio-based Materials in Education: Hands on Investigation with DIY Non-petroleum Based Materials
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Daniel Neubauer
The challenges of sustainable design demand an interdisciplinary approach combining technical knowledge, user insights, and environmental responsibility. This paper showcases how hands-on projects with bio-based materials can integrate industrial design education with fields like materials science, biotechnology, and sustainable manufacturing. Case studies highlight students applying STEM principles while prototyping with bio-composites, demonstrating the interdisciplinary learning potential of this pedagogical approach. Companies already leveraging bio-based materials in design illustrate the industry relevance of such experiences. By interweaving bio-based materials into design curricula, educators can foster cross-functional collaboration, technical literacy, and sustainable mindsets, preparing graduates to drive user-centered innovation in response to evolving societal needs and environmental challenges.
A Human-Centered Approach to First Responder Care in Namibia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Clara Watkins
Globally, road traffic accidents result in 1.19 million deaths each year and are now the leading cause of death for children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 29. 92% of these fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries [1]. This paper details how an interdisciplinary team of designers and healthcare professionals utilised human-centred design and design thinking [2] to develop and implement an intuitive, low-cost, quality-assured, first-responder pack and training program for use by the Namibian and Windhoek City Police Forces. Working in partnership with these forces, 60 packs were distributed, and 213 police officers were trained in first responder care. 6 of which completed further training to become trainers. A key focus of this paper is on the design and delivery of a new approach to first responder training. Including a memorable sequence of delivery, intuitive layout and contextually appropriate training manual, with illustrations. Observations identified key challenges surrounding the comprehension and engagement with the globally standard C-ABC [9] approach to trauma care. Therefore, an entirely novel approach, intended to be as intuitive as possible, was developed. This was named the FiRST. It was developed through an iterative process of design development, working with police officers in Namibia to ensure effective implementation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the adopted methodology, benefits, challenges and lessons learnt. Providing key insights into an interdisciplinary approach that draws on design thinking and human-centred design. Lessons that hold the potential to impact further public health interventions and social innovation.
