Design Digest - Volume 7: Human-Centered Design

Prioritizing people in the design process leads to more beneficial and enduring solutions. Our Human-Centered Design issue explores how designing with deeper understanding and empathy creates accessible, supportive and engaging environments for a wider range of users.

Design Digest Human Potential Framework — Human-First and Future-Ready: A Design Framework for Unlocking Human Potential
As enthusiasm around AI grows, what is truly at stake often gets lost: people. Alexis Kim and Madeline Dunsmore highlight a framework for designing our workspaces as catalysts for human collaboration and creativity.
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THE STRENGTH SHIFT: WHAT THE RISE OF HEAVY LIFTING MEANS FOR CAMPUS REC DESIGN — The Strength Shift: What the Rise of Heavy Lifting Means for Campus Rec Design
Rec & Wellness Leader Clint Menefee explains how the rise of heavy lifting is pushing campus rec centers to create larger, more adaptable strength spaces that better reflect student demand while also fostering more inclusive, confidence‑building environments.
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Beyond Human-Centered: When History, Culture, and Tribe Set the Brief Cover Image External — Beyond Human-Centered: When History, Culture, and Tribe Set the Brief
From its terracotta exterior—drawn from the red clay earth of the Apache origin story—to ceremonial healing spaces integrated throughout, Whiteriver Indian Hospital reflects what human-centered means when community history, culture and sovereignty set the brief and listening shapes the design.
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Designing for Efficiency and Wellbeing: Hamilton County’s Coroner’s Office and Crime Lab

Scientific rigor and workplace emotional needs come together in this video narrated by Design Director Mark Kranz, Forensic Market Leader Chris Knorr and Hamilton County, Ohio Coroner Lakshmi Kode Sammarco, MD.