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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Shaping Digital Futures

Shaping Digital Futures

Explore the interdisciplinary practice of crafting computational and networked services that enhance human life, balancing technological innovation with social responsibility, ethics, and economic values.

“
Technology is never neutral. It's shaped by our values and in turn shapes our society. Understanding this complex relationship is crucial for responsible and innovative design.
—paraphrasing Judy Wajcman, Anthony Giddens Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Objective & Outcomes

In an era where technologies of all sorts—among them, mobile, web, IoT, generative AI, and Large Language Models (LLMs)—are reshaping the digital landscape, this seminar invites students to explore the interdisciplinary practice of crafting computational and networked services that enhance human life. This course balances technological innovation with social responsibility, ethics, and economic values, delving into the next stage and challenge for the design field—beyond the hype and towards genuine adaptation and alignment with human needs.

Building on this foundation, the course confronts the new frontier of design education: the data-rich environment of today’s world. Students will learn to navigate this landscape with a data-informed approach, developing the skills to create impactful, human-centered designs that respond to the complexities of our interconnected society.

Typical Schedule

  • Session 1: Business Management Domain
  • Session 2: Algorithmic & Platform Strategies
  • Session 3: Technological Domain
  • Session 4: Technology Assessment & Impact
  • Session 5: Design Domain
  • Session 6: Alternative Design Perspectives
  • Session 7: Social Science & Technology

See all MDes Courses