For two terms, I was honored to instruct Design for Understanding (DES 159) — a senior capstone graphic design course developed by Professor Susan Verba at UC Davis. In this class, students learn to make complex information clear. Students begin the term by practicing with short exercises before applying what they learned to a final project.
In all DES 159 assignments, students are encouraged to explore a variety of visual and rhetorical approaches, like establishing informational hierarchy, (re)writing text in plain language, employing typographic best practices, and experimenting with visual cues to orient the viewer.
Design for Understanding’s final project allows students to address an informational need on the topic of their choice — exploring an issue through primary and secondary research, conducting user testing, and ultimately creating a prototype for a proposed design intervention. Below is a sampling of two final projects from students I advised.
Connecting Classrooms and Publics, chapter from the **Public Interest Design Education Guidebook (coathored with Susan Verba and Sarah Perrault)
This student identified a significant need for compassionate family activities that are inclusive of loved ones with Alzheimer’s. In conducting research about the condition and its treatments, she isolated four activity categories that could engage family members with Alzheimer’s safely and respectfully. The student then designed a series of prompt cards that not only provide ideas for family activities, but aid in the decision-making process through highlighting features of each choice.
This student created a robust prototype of a medical tracking application for eczema. Medical trackers are notoriously difficult to design, and must strike a difficult balance between ease of use and resolution of data. Through extensive primary and secondary research, the student found that most people with eczema don’t have a usable tracking tool, as managing the condition requires detailed logging of symptoms, triggers, and treatments.
To solve this, she created an interface that captures and visualizes layers of interrelated information without being burdensome. Intuitive gestures and efficient flows allow users to track their eczema with speed and precision — helping them to pinpoint effective treatment.
