Design is changing the world, whether one notices it or not, says Don Norman, American researcher and author popularly known as the man who designs designers. “To address every challenge of modern living, from climate change to resource scarcity and social inequities, it has become necessary to rethink education with human-centred designs. Achieving this requires a new way of seeing the world.”
Norman, whose approach expands the scope of Design from private profit to public good and who guides designers and innovators worldwide to create intuitive and functional products, was in India a few months ago to meet faculty and vice-chancellors of Indian universities. His aim: to convince people that empathy-driven education encourages students to be critical and independent thinkers and prepares future leaders who can transform the world.
Professor Don Norman, American researcher and author | Photo Credit: Freepik
“Hidden rules of design are changing the way we live, work and play,” he said during a chat after his visits to institutions such as BML Munjal University (BMU), Gurugram; BITS Design School, Mumbai; and The Design Village, Noida, among others. A staunch believer in “the change we create today shapes tomorrow”, he emphasised the need for students to champion designs for peoples’ good by following broad academic options.
In India, design was introduced as a modern profession in the 1950s when Prime Minister Nehru committed himself to the country’s industrial development in a broad way of finding one’s own solution. He did not want to lose on quality of life in the rush towards rapid industrialisation, wrote industrial designer S. Balaram in the journal Design Issues in 2008. In the 1970s, Indian designers and educators pushed for Design to have a bigger role in national policymaking but the Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979 that wanted to bring designers into critical policy making remained a non-starter. With the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) focusing on liberal arts, universities are again recognising the vibrant spirit of the discipline and exploring collaborations between the department of Liberal Studies, and Schools of Law, Management, Science, Engineering and technology.
Small interactions lead to greater organic growth, enhancing both engagement and reach, says Norman, adding, “We cannot go on building technology that does not understand people. We must expand the role of Design across nation-building ambitions. Design assumes that we can craft objects, services, experiences, and systems that are more humane and acknowledges the interplay between design thinking and making.”
As universities re-imagine their curriculum by integrating local and global challenges, Norman offers some suggestions. “Students should be put together in a cohesive team to do a project that is interesting. They have to be provided with tools to understand societal issues and innovate solutions that usher change. The proper education is to know finance, technology, art and history, and work with different people with different skills.”
According to him, the interconnectedness in Liberal Arts is missing in India because of the dominating culture of ‘specialisation’. “The education system is concentrated on making students specialists in one subject. Often, they do not quite know what they are learning and why are they learning so much. There is too much rote learning; instead of testing what students have learned, they seem to be learning what is being tested.”
Indian universities have to move towards collaboration. For instance, History and Philosophy can be clubbed together instead of being two different subjects under different streams. Or to understand climate change, one needs to know Chemistry, History, Geography, Economics, and human behaviour. “Students should understand how subjects are related to each other and how things come together to fit in. Design is a way of thinking that can be applied to any problem; it is about building, constructing and collaborating,” said Norman, emphasising that education has to move beyond conventional frameworks to cultivate intellectual agility, ethical reasoning, and adaptability.
“Higher education is not just a means to employment, financial and social success, but a space to develop critical thinkers, empathetic leaders, and socially responsible individuals.” The essence of liberal studies is to create informed, self-reflective individuals who question fearlessly and are change-makers with a deep human connect. “Education serves its purpose when it is a vehicle for meaningful engagement with society, socially responsible actions and impactful contributions.”
Published - April 19, 2025 03:40 pm IST
