Our Bachelor of Science degree in Design, Innovation & Society prepares you to use design as a powerful tool for understanding problems, generating ideas and creating meaningful change. You’ll explore how people, technology and culture intersect—and learn how design methods can help address complex challenges in everyday life, organizations and communities.
Through hands-on coursework and collaborative projects, you’ll develop creative confidence, critical thinking and practical design skills that prepare you for careers across industries where innovation and human-centered thinking are essential.
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Coursework
What you'll study
As a Design, Innovation & Society student, you’ll explore how design connects people, technology, culture and social systems. Coursework combines design theory, research methods and creative practice to help you better understand complex problems and generate innovative solutions.
You’ll build foundational skills in areas such as design thinking, visual communication, creative research and systems thinking while learning how to approach challenges from multiple perspectives.
Learn from experts
At the School of Human Ecology, you’ll learn from Design Studies faculty who are designers, researchers and educators working at the intersection of creativity, technology and social impact. Faculty guide students through collaborative projects that apply design thinking to real-world challenges.
Through studio-style coursework and interdisciplinary collaboration, you’ll gain experience communicating ideas, working across disciplines and applying creative methods to complex problems.
Develop skills
Design, Innovation & Society emphasizes hands-on learning and experimentation. Courses focus on ideation, visualization and prototyping—helping you move ideas from concept to tangible solutions and real-world applications.
Students develop skills in research, concept development, visual communication and prototyping while learning how to navigate ambiguity and lead creative problem-solving processes across disciplines, industries and complex real-world design challenges.
Choose your pathway
Design & Culture
Explore how design shapes and reflects cultural values, identities and everyday life. This pathway examines design through historical, social and material perspectives, helping you understand how objects, media and environments influence how people experience the world.
Design & Social Change
Apply design methods to complex social challenges. This pathway focuses on human-centered design, systems thinking and community engagement to develop solutions that improve lives, strengthen communities and address inequities in existing systems.
Design & Technology
Investigate how emerging technologies influence the way people interact with products, services and environments. This pathway explores digital tools, prototyping and innovation strategies to design experiences and systems for a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Careers
Design, Innovation & Society graduates apply design thinking across industries where innovation, collaboration, and human-centered problem solving are essential. Working in startups, global companies, nonprofits, and the public sector, they use design methods to understand complex systems, generate ideas, and create solutions that improve how people live and work.
Design & Social Change Pathway
Students in the Design & Social Change pathway learn to understand complex social systems and design solutions that improve public services, organizations, and community experiences. Graduates often work in civic innovation, the public sector, nonprofits, and social impact consultancies, researching community needs, collaborating with stakeholders, and prototyping services and programs that support more equitable, effective institutions.
Civic Designer
Service Designer
Social and Community Service Manager
Design & Culture Pathway
Studying the relationships between design, objects, and cultural meaning prepares students for careers in museums, cultural institutions, public humanities, and the creative industries. The Design & Culture pathway focuses on Cultural Experience Design—translating historical research, material culture, and storytelling into engaging public experiences such as exhibitions, installations, and interpretive environments. Graduates shape how audiences encounter culture, history, and collections through thoughtfully designed experiences that help people connect with objects, spaces, and stories.
Curators / Museum Technicians and Conservators
Set and Exhibition Designers
Art Directors
Design & Technology Pathway
Students in the Design & Technology pathway learn to use emerging technologies as creative tools within the design process. This includes digital fabrication, immersive media such as virtual and augmented reality, computational design, and advanced visualization tools used to design spatial and experiential environments. Rather than focusing on designing digital products themselves, students learn to apply technology to prototype ideas, visualize complex systems, and create interactive environments and installations.
Design Technologist
Digital Fabrication Specialist
Immersive Experience Designer
Stay Connected
Keep up with what students and faculty are up to Human Ecology by following the school's Instagram account.
Student Stories
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Design, Innovation & Society Resources
