Associate Professor of Product Design, University of Minnesota
Tejas Dhadphale, Ph.D., IDSA is an associate professor of product design at the University of Minnesota. He received his PhD from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. His research examines the relationship between culture, design thinking and research methods in design education and practice. Trained as a design researcher, he is passionate about developing frameworks for designers and researchers to integrate cultural aspects into the design process. He teaches courses in culture of objects, design research methods, design thinking, creative thinking, transdisciplinary new product innovation and human-centered design. Dr. Dhadphale’s areas of specialties and expertise include culture and design, cultural sustainability, design research methods, design thinking, and product design education.
Understanding Culturally Appropriate Design: Implications for Sustainable Design
The current approaches to sustainable product design mainly focus on environmental issues, and to a certain extent on social and economic aspects. Unfortunately, practitioners and academicians are unsure of how to deal with the cultural dimensions of sustainability. Engaging consumers in culturally appropriate consumption can ensure that those products have higher emotional attachment, longer lifespans and end up in landfills much later than other comparable products. The key to developing culturally appropriate products lies in understanding how objects acquire cultural meanings. The talk addresses the following questions: 1)How can designers engage in cultural dimensions of sustainable design? 2) How can designers develop culturally appropriate products? This talk will provide a methodological approach for integrating the material, behavioral, observable, and symbolic aspects of culture for developing culturally sustainable products.
The audience will learn…
