A harmonious fusion of research and practice.

We seamlessly integrate our Assessment, Research, and Academic Programs to achieve excellence, advance knowledge, and create evidence for learning.

Assessment and Research

With a firm commitment to evidence-based Human-Centered Design, we established our Assessment and Research team in 2019. This team offers both theoretical foundations and empirical support that bolster the design, implementation, and assessment of SCD’s diverse programs and offerings.

Our dedicated team undertakes the planning and execution of research studies that propel the frontiers of knowledge in Human-Centered Design. Our research scope spans a variety of domains, including the assessment and evaluation of Human-Centered Design learning, its application in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, as well as in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (LASS) Education. Additionally, our exploration extends to human-centered design’s role in K-12 settings, communities, and the corporate realm. These valuable insights gleaned from our research are then shared through presentations at conferences and contributions to reputable journals.

The Human-Centered Design Taxonomy

Our Human-Centered Design Taxonomy provides a flexible, accessible, and approachable structure that can guide the processes of solving wicked problems and generate creative and meaningful solutions. HCD should not be viewed as a predefined sequential series of processes that one initiates to solve a problem; nevertheless, it is best described as “a system of spaces”.

Each space consists of processes such as empathize, organize, brainstorm, create, and develop which can be executed by learning and implementing practices such as interviewing people, identifying themes, communicating ideas, creating prototypes and developing plans to bring final designs to the market. The Taxonomy above presents the human-centered design spaces and processes based on the definitions and the practices defined in our research.

Human-Centered Design Research Areas

Led by Dr. Saadeddine Shehab, the mission of SCD’s Assessment and Research team is to conduct research that supports and facilitates the teaching and learning of Human-centered Design (HCD) in formal and informal learning environments. SCD’s Research Scholars, who are graduate and undergraduate students from multiple disciplines, have been contributing to SCD’s research projects under the following six areas: