KCAI’s newest major Product Design welcomed the first class of nine students this fall to experience an innovative program that teaches the most current design principles and focuses on creating products that make the world a better place. According to the architect of the program, Professor and Chair of Product Design Chris Chapin, “Product Design is primarily about serving others through the products we create.” In sophomore year every project starts with an important ethical question, “Why?” Before students begin designing, they explore why we would put a new product into the world and then dig deeply into how a product might address an important need. “We are not interested in adding to the world’s collection of ‘stuff’ but rather we strive to use design to create tangible solutions that can improve people’s lives,” said Chapin. Students move on to the principles and practices of human-centered design in junior year. They enter international design competitions and use them to identify current problems to be solved that can inform their studio work. This also empowers students to begin participating in the international design community. Senior year is a deep dive into self-directed design work and entrepreneurship with the help of mentors from some of Kansas City’s rich design community and iconic companies read more…