L.-L. Chen’s research while affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam and other places

This paper describes factors that nurture a human-centered attitude of a design curriculum. A brief literature study defines a human-centered attitude and explains how to develop this attitude by using experiential learning theories. Furthermore, an illustrative case study reflects on the human-centered elements of a multimedia design course. This study recommends the teaching of human-centered methods as an integral part of a design curriculum, a teaching style that questions the human-centered aspects of the student's work and composing authentic and challenging project briefs with real people. To develop a human-centered attitude students need to involve real people into their design process and empathize with them. The experience with real people affects their beliefs, which can result in changing their attitudes towards people.

This paper is part of a research into the history of unruly design, which aims at finding theoretical background for the design of everyday things in a postmodern society. Unruly design is defined in this research as: all objects that are designed with the intention to undermine the existing design-paradigm of the functionalists. The paper will present the research background, research approach, and findings in the form of the first five design practices that have been identified as a set of ‘rules of unruly design’. These five rules of practice can be considered a toolkit for the contemporary designer to make meaningful objects.