Kristin Hughes, designer and educator, works with members of at-risk
communities to address (and eventually, hopefully solve) complex social
problems. Since no one discipline holds the ultimate solution for such problems,
Kristin honed a community-engagement model of design during her 14 years of
practice. Her model generates solutions by fusing the expertise and passion of
community members and leaders across disciplines including alternative
education, psychology, formal education, health care, fine arts, community
organizing, and public policy.
In her talk, Kristin will share stories from these collaborations, as well as stories
from her childhood and other formative experiences that drove her development
of an approach to problem-solving that finds its success by directly engaging
community members in each step of the design process. Her stories will illustrate
the inspiration for this inclusive model, as well as the amazing results that occur
when you treat each participants like the expert they are and invite the exchange
of skills and know-how among community members as they make decisions and
solve vexing problems their communities face every day.
One of many stories Kristin will share will be about recent work with kids, families,
teachers and health care providers to create a system of games and services to
help prevent and reduce childhood obesity by closing gaps in health literacy,
education and awareness.