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Design Lab

Harvard University + Brown University + RISD

A cross-pollination hub for discovering,
discussing, and visualizing new ideas
for solving pressing global problems.

Art + Science + Diversity + Learning

Creative Collaborations: Theory, Research, and Practice

Art + Science + Diversity + Learning

Mission

The Design Lab’s goal is to inspire new ways of thinking about problems, facilitate fresh collaborations, and create more engaging and enjoyable ways to learn complicated concepts.

Methodology

The Design Lab brings people together from diverse personal backgrounds who work in the arts, sciences, and technology sectors. We provide world-class opportunities to learn the theory and practice of high impact creative collaboration. And we teach by example by hosting collaborative conversations, courses, and exhibitions.

Philosophy

The Design Lab helps people find diverse inspiration and learn to improve their creative collaboration capabilities based on examples and research.

How We Began

What We Do

Training

Teaching and learning diverse creative collaboration

Case Studies with Global Leaders

World-class case studies and collaborations. Contact ba[at]seas.harvard.edu with inquiries.

Job Board

Connecting students, researchers, professionals around exciting opportunities. Link in footer.

Testimonial

Help students apply what they learn from you through engaging real-world projects and stories, and test their knowledge with tailor-made quizzes.

2021 Team

International collaborations, Art & Exhibitions

International collaborations, Research

Griffin van Horne, Teaching

Kurt Bickenbach, Teaching

Jonathan Biderman, Teaching

2020 Team

Paola Bellis, Teaching & Research

Laurie Delaney, Senior UX Research &  Teaching

Rosa Weinberg, Teaching

Nick Stager, UX Analytics Research

Bob Pak, UX Analytics Research

Zhixin Lin, Visual Design

Maria Roldan Castro, Visual Design

Jared Myers, UX Research & Teaching

2019 Team

Laurie Delaney, UX Research & Teaching

Ningxin Cheng, Design & Research

Jordan Degraaf, BD Research

David Gomez Gil, Analytics Research & Teaching

Jason Lee, UX Research

Chenlu Wang, UX Research & Design

Vicky Xu, Research

Jazib Zahir, Research

Ailing Zhang, Design & Research

2018 Team

Laurie Delaney, UX Research & Teaching

Brandon Shaik, UX Analytics Research & Teaching

Berto Ceballos, Teaching

Chenlu Wang, UX Research & Design

Chong Hu, UX Design

Ningxin Cheng, UX Research

Vicky Xu, Research

Hanna Kim, Graphic Design

2017 Team

Laurie Delaney, UX Research & Teaching

Genevieve Ennis Hume, Research

Ngoc Doan, Teaching

Santiago Mota, Teaching

Keith Scott, UX Research & Design

Lilian Taylor, UX Research & Teaching

Yaara Yacoby, Research

2016 Team

Lilian Taylor, UX Research & Teaching

Ngoc Doan, Teaching

Neal Adolph Akatsuka, UX Research

Jacques van Rhyn, Event ManagementStu

Arts Team

The pandemic led our team do do a lot of reflecting on how we really want to spend our time. This led us back to our original interests in innovation in art and design, and new business models that better support creatives. Let us know if you want to learn more about our upcoming work.

Research Team

Interested in joining our research team? We regularly accept new researchers. These are usually part-time, learning and mentorship-based roles. We currently do not have paid positions. Register your interest in research positions here and we’ll be in touch.

Teaching Team

Interested in joining the teaching staff for the Innovators’ Practice or Design Survivor or Integrated Design? We select teaching fellows 1-2 months before each term. These are part-time roles and only available to Harvard-affiliates. Please fill in this short form to let us know. A month or two before term starts, we will get in touch regarding the selection process.

The Design Lab’s research on teaching and learning is funded by SEAS and the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching. In addition to working with industry, we often collaborate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, the Harvard Innovation Labs, other departments, and other institutions on teaching, immersive field courses, and mentoring.

Remote Teams

Data Science Team

Our data science team works with us on complex R&D projects and focuses on quantitative models, machine learning, and large-scale text analytics.

Full Stack Development Team

Our development team works with us to turn the refined prototypes from our research into products and services that we can use for teaching materials.

From great stories about psychological concepts, to building websites to analyzing data, find ‘samples’ to nest inside your courses to increase student learning and engagement.

No matter their experience level, give your students opportunities to apply important concepts at home in more exciting ways that through lectures on Zoom.

Find easy ways for students to turn what they learn into creative projects that show off their command of learning objectives.

Nesting great modules in your remote teaching makes it easier to focus on what matters most – the individual learning needs of all your students, whether on campus or at home.

Check our our FAQ for how to work with nesting modules.

From our Blog

Learn about past teaching and learning projects.