In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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Revolutionizing Petcare

By Palak Shah

May 11, 2023

A research-driven product exploration to understand the symbiotic relationship between dogs & humans.

With over half of millennials owning dogs and considering them as family members, this project aims to create a pet-monitoring solution that surpasses the current technology offerings in the pet industry. Through a human-centered design methodology and ethnographic research exploration, the team seeks to identify the unfulfilled needs of dog owners in terms of monitoring their pets. While numerous dog-monitoring technology devices currently exist, the project seeks to create a solution that goes beyond the existing offerings and truly meets the needs of pet owners. By using a human-centered approach, the team aims to understand the unique needs and preferences of pet owners and develop a solution that truly enhances the bond between pets and their owners. Through this project, the team hopes to contribute to the ever-evolving and increasingly important pet industry, while also providing pet owners with a valuable and innovative solution.

Project Details

  • Class: Innovation Narratives
  • Instructor: Peter Zapf