THE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree

MASTER OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

on

Monday, April 15, 2024 

4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. EST

West Architecture -Room 250

Join Zoom Meeting

https://gatech.zoom.us/my/karinabhatta

Meeting ID: 429 199 9226

Karina Bhattacharya

will present a thesis defense entitled,

" Co-Design with Neurodivergent Students and Recent Graduates to Develop an Inclusive Pedagogy in Design Education"

Advisor:

Sabir Khan, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design & School of Architecture

Committee:

Dr. Leila Aflatoony, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design

Wayne Li, Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design

Faculty and students are invited to attend this presentation.

Abstract

This thesis aims twofold: (1) to learn from co-design workshops with neurodivergent industrial design students and recent graduates and (2) to use these findings to design a product for inclusive teaching practices within design studio courses. This approach aligns with the biopsychosocial model of disability, which encompasses listening to individuals personally affected and redesigning external factors that impact them. The results of the co-design workshops were analyzed, and the findings informed the design of Naranote, a process-oriented digital template. Naranote was shown to assist current junior-level students in documenting and communicating the goals of their studio projects, but it was a significantly more valuable resource within a portfolio workshop, as it helped workshop participants present their work and express their thinking in small group discussions. This thesis contributes to general knowledge by proposing a novel methodology and recommendations for co-design with neurodivergent students. Secondarily, it connects co-design as an approach for informing inclusive teaching practices and products while providing a usability study as a starting point for testing an educational intervention.