Design for Healthy Behaviors

Design for Healthy Behaviors, started in 2010, is a course for grad students and undergrads of all disciplines. Students will work in teams of two directly with a patient-volunteer, all of whom are managing chronic health conditions, on a quarter-long design project. Student teams will learn and use design to help their patient-volunteers form healthy behaviors that will benefit their long-term health. Students will also work in pairs on two short additional design projects to improve aspects of their own health, as empathy building experiences, alongside the main project. Through the work needed to complete these projects, from the teaching team's presentations and exercises, from invited guests and from each other, students will learn and use the fundamentals of design to experiment with habit change and healthy habit formation.