Design Thinking 101

Jennifer Rittner is a design educator and writer. We talk about design, education, ethics, social justice, system design, and design joy.

Listen to Learn About

>> The current state of design education
>> Human-centered design methodology
>> Important designers working at design’s cutting edge
>> Designing with and for marginalized populations
>> Smaller scale design
>> The empathy problem
>> The power-design ecosystem

Our Guest

Jennifer is a writer, educator and communications strategist who has taught at Parsons School of Design, the School Visual Arts, and SUNY FIT. In Fall 2021, she was a visiting lecturer at the California College of Art. She has been published in The New York Times, Eye on Design, DMI: Journal, and Core77; and recently guest edited a special issue on Policing & Design for the Design Museum Everywhere. She frequently writes and lectures about design and social justice.

Show Highlights

[01:00] Jennifer talks about starting her career as a museum educator before finding her way into design.
[01:56] Jennifer’s career teaching design, and some of the courses she taught.
[03:26] How design shows up in the world and how it shapes our reality.
[04:22] An important a-ha moment some of Jennifer’s students had about design.
[08:52] Human- and community-centered design.
[09:29] Dawan and Jennifer talk about design education and learning design as a never-ending process.
[10:44] Technical skills versus soft skills in design.
[11:50] Jennifer’s thoughts about human-centered design as a methodology.
[13:15] The need for a more critical thinking approach to how we teach design.
[14:06] Designers who are doing the work of critiquing current methodologies and offering alternatives.
[16:08] Something Jennifer would like to see design schools teach about methodology.
[17:45] Jennifer talks about her background and some of her current struggles in the design space.
[21:43] The concept of “inappropriateness” and design.
[24:51] Design on a smaller scale and designers whose work Jennifer admires.
[25:03] Design and technology.
[25:33] How design often marginalizes disabled people.
[27:09] The importance of design in helping the people being served find their own voices to speak on their own behalf.
[28:37] Advice for designers who are looking to move into work that is more socially impactful.
[32:41] Jennifer talks about the problematic nature of workplace culture.
[35:18] Dawan and Jennifer talk about empathy and how it is often misunderstood and misused in design work.
[40:30] Empathy and how it relates to people and organizations that hold power.
[43:29] The importance of knowing the history of a problem if you intend to design in that space.
[44:15] Making the case for systems design.
[45:51] Design and the institutions of power.
[51:29] Jennifer’s hopes for design as it begins to grapple with system design challenges.
[55:53] Where to find out more about Jennifer and her work and writing.

Book recommendation

The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection, by Anne Berry, Kareem Collie, Penina Acayo Laker, Lesly-Ann Noel, Jennifer Rittner, and Kelly Waters