Design for Change: Using Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation

​​Join us in-person on Monday, April 11th, 2:30 PM-4:30 PM as part of our UPstarters Innovation Series! 

​The UPstarter Innovation Series teaches students the tools and skills about the essentials of innovation in different sessions during the Spring semester. Each session is offered independently to attract a multi-disciplinary group of students. Students learn different frameworks and tactics that help them think more critically and creatively.

​Description

​Good design is about understanding the lives of those who will be impacted by it, seeing the world in which they live, and designing solutions that are useful to them.

​When addressing social and environmental issues, the use of human-centered design allows us to better understand the context and situation of existing systems to design solutions with people in mind. With the world continuing to face hardships and disparities, there is an opportunity for new solutions and an opportunity to innovate and reshape the systems and products we use every day. As designers, this opportunity begins with understanding ourselves and stepping back to consider all those that impact and are impacted by design. It begins with building empathy. 

​In this workshop, you will:

• ​Acknowledge your biases and blindspots in reference to the existing systems that are currently in place 

• ​Explore how to build an equitable community 

• ​Identify ways to build empathy for people and integrate it into your design process

​​​Who should attend?

​​​Open to all FIU students seeking to become more innovative regardless of their major, year, or level of expertise.

​​​​About StartUP FIU

​​​​StartUP FIU is a university-wide innovation hub that fosters and develops entrepreneurship and innovation to help our students, researchers, and community connect, contribute to, and thrive in today’s fast-changing world. We create and run programs based on two foundational beliefs: that the skills and principles of entrepreneurship are essential to navigate and harness the opportunities of our disruptive age, and that universities can play a unique role in unlocking opportunity and unleashing the potential to shape a better, more inclusive, and more innovative future.