Design Thinking Roundtable

Ezio Manzini  is one of the world's leading and provocative thinkers in design for sustainability and social innovation — considered a major driver of sustainable changes. These two joint interests led him to start DESIS : an international network of schools of design specifically active in the field of design for social innovation and sustainability. Currently, Ezio is President of DESIS Net...

Bon Ku is an emergency physician, professor and host of the Design Lab podcast. He is the Assistant Dean for Health and Design and leads the Medicine+Design initiatives at Thomas Jefferson University. As the Director of the Health Design Lab, he created the first design thinking program at a medical school. Bon is creating design-minded solutions to improve patient health. Bon co-wrote the book, H...

In this episode, our guest was Laetitia Wolff,  a creative strategist, design curator, published author, and self-described cultural engineer and the former director of strategic initiatives at AIGA in NY. Laetitia lives, works and teaches in the South of France following 20+ years spent in New York. She consults and creates projects that generate new discourses, meaningful pra...

Karine Sarkissian is a founding partner at Tamar Capital (2016), a single-family office based between the Middle East, the UK, and the US. She oversees the FO’s Impact and Venture portfolio. Designer and Design Strategist by background, Karine has extensive experience in social innovation for urban and economic development initiatives within New York City and Internationally. Leveraging her expert...

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and always...

In this episode, I talked with Joana Casaca Lemos, a design researcher passionate about sustainability innovation. Joana runs an independent practice where she supports organisations in ensuring that sustainability is at the forefront of business. She is currently launching Unusual Research - the first global collective of creatives with sustainability expertise. Joana shared with me her view on d...

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities  to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and alway...

Lisbeth Shepherd is Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT's designX and Visiting Lecturer at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning. Her work focuses on how "climate corps" in cities can promote environmental and economic justice.  Shepherd co-founded the Green City Force (GCF) in 2009 to address the dual imperatives of youth unemployment and climate change . She previously coordin...

In this episode, I talked with Ayah Younis, a human centered-designer for social change. With 10-year experience in education in museums, she employs innovative tools and play methods to design learning experiences for children and adults. Ayah shared with me her work using human-centered design to create meaningful experiences in museums as well as in the health centers in Jordan and the region....

In this episode, I talked with Megan Marini, co-founder and Principal, Director of Strategy and Outreach  of 3X3, an inclusive and participatory innovation studio designing for systemic change, based in New York City and New Delhi. Over the past decade, they have been bringing communities, the public sector, and private entities together as allies to create social transformatio...

In this episode, I talked with Eric Ho, co-founder and Director of Architecture Commons based in Hong Kong, a design agency for urban innovation. Eric is an architect, entrepreneur, and urban thinker passionate about architecture and urban environments that have a lasting impact on society. He  described civic design projects he led in New York and in Hong Kong. Eric emphasized the value of c...

In this episode, I talked with Javiera Arenas, a design strategist and service designer, from Chile, working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. Javi reflected on her practice in designing holistic healthcare experiences. She highlighted the need to take a system view and engage all stakeholders in the process.  While acknowledging the difficulties inherent to designing hol...

In this episode, I talked with Ben Reason, founding partner of pioneering service design studio Livework , created in London in 2001. Ben and I discussed Ben’s article “ Designing in the Anthropocene ”. Ben reflected on his journey from his early interest in triple bottom line and his current interest in sustainability. He discussed the tensions between theory and practice.  He also shared hi...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Rinat Sherzer, Founder of Of Course Global (https://www.ofcourseglobal.com/) To watch her TED Talk: The Bloody Taboo With The Power T...

In this episode, I talked with Clare Brass, a London-based designer and innovator for business, with a focus on sustainability and circular economy. Clare is the Director of Department 22, which offers consultancy and training in design, innovation and circular economy with a focus on food systems. Clare shared her views on the importance of values in design as well as how to design sustainability...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Adekunle Oduye, Senior Engineer at Mailchimp. Credits--- conception and production: Anne-Laure Fayard; sound design, music & post-pro...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Hannah Chung, Co-founder of Sproutel and Design for America (DFA). Credits--- conception and production: Anne-Laure Fayard; sound des...

In this episode, we talked with Jess Majekodunmi, an accomplished design historian, an experienced facilitator and an occasional poet, currently the Director of the Human Insights Lab at The Dock, Accenture’s Flagship R&D and Innovation Center, based in Dublin, Ireland. Jess shared with us her views on conscientious innovation, in particular when designing AI systems. She stressed the importance o...

In this episode, Mayo Nissen, a a New York-based creative director, currently Design Lab Director at the New York City Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer, talked about his work at the intersections and interplay between research, systems thinking, and human-centered design. He shares with us his approach to human-centered design and how a systems thinking lens allows us to zoom in and...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Jeremy Joachim, Creative Technologist on Gensler’s Digital Experience Design team. Credits--- conception and production: Anne-Laure F...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Umi Syam, Multimedia Editor at The New York Times. You can see her work on http://umi.codes/ Credits--- conception and production: An...

In this episode, Lee-Sean Huang, a designer and storyteller, cofounder of Foossa, a community-centered design consultancy, tells us about storytelling and its role in the design process, and shares with us his perspective on the intersection between design and democracy. To learn more about Lee-Sean's work, check his website: https://leesean.net/ , Foossa's website: https://foossa.com/ and follow...

Engineering X Design is a Podcast Series produced by the Design Lab at NYU MakerSpace. This podcast complements a series of fireside chats where we invite professionals working at the intersection of design, engineering, and technology. Our guest for this episode is Wayne Suiter Matamoros, Managing Director of Product and Experience at Unreasonable Group. Credits--- conception and production: Anne...

In this episode, Sarah Fathallah, a Moroccan social designer and researcher, talks about her work at the intersection of human-centered design, community-centered design and participatory design. She shares with us her approach to design research and illustrates it with stories that show the value of design research in creating meaningful solutions. To learn more about Sarah's work, check her webs...

In this episode, Tim Reitzes from NYC Civic Service Design Studio at Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity and Daniel Herrera from the Administration of Children’s Services tell our host, Priyanka Vora, how their offices collaborated to use the principles of human-centered design to make ACS’ services more user-friendly. Here’s who we interviewed in the order they appear on the show: Tim Reitzes...