Chris Hughes, MFA | Visual Comm. | Design Thinking & Leadership

What brought me to the graduate Visual Communication program on Design Thinking + Design Leader at Indiana University?

I experienced a “WOW!” moment at the program’s open house. A video from the Red Design Council showed a creative human-centered collaborative process to address problems in the complex systems of healthcare for diabetic patients. It was amazing. Utilizing design not just for marketing or logos, but as a design process to transform behaviors at the level of systems and organizations. My favorite moment, the interdisciplinary team developed a simple visual tool ‘Agenda cards’ to reframe interactions between patients and healthcare professionals, and to overcome barriers of communication. A powerful and elegant solution. At that point, I saw how the power of design can be transformational in our lives, ways of doing and thinking.

A key component of Design Thinking that I feel strongly about is human-centeredness. Being human-centered is an approach to design experience from a human perspective. By facilitating the user at the center of the design process we are able to harness their creativity and co-create solutions to complex problems. I feel we should see people not as “end-users” but as active participants. Empower us to be part of the decision process and not have others to decide for us. For example, in the RED video patients were part of the creative process from the very start. Together they learned to, build services around people, not diseases and that starting from the perspective of the individual creates radically different innovative solutions. I see our everyday human experience makes us designers whom are capable of Design Thinking in everyday life.

I was hooked. After being quickly exposed to progressive thoughts and concepts as Design Thinking, Transformation Design, Design Leadership, human centered approach; I applied for the program and never looked back.

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After I receive my graduate degree, I seek to be become a leading participant in the dialogue on the future of Healthcare in our country. My past professional and undergraduate experiences support this goal. As a former hospital IT consultant I had extensive experience in bringing technologies, such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR’s) and handheld devices for the betterment of healthcare systems and patient outcomes. In addition, I designed and taught a “Computers in Medicine” curriculum to Family Doctor residents. My previous education experiences consisted of BFA degree in Multimedia Design with on minors in art history, acting, Spanish, psychology and business.