Academics
Our program gives you the ability to apply your interests to one of many pathways through our engineering major. In pursuing a Design major, you will balance fulfilling the requirements with your own elective options to chart your own pathway through the degree.
Program Sheets
Review a Program Sheet for the Design major to plan out your degree progress.
SoE Undergrad Handbook
Understand our Design requirements by reviewing the detailed notes and stipulations for expectations.
Design 4-Year Plans
Review the Design 4-year plans to help you plan out your classes and schedule over the next few years.
1. Fulfill Engineering Breadth Courses
DESIGN 1
Introduction to Design
Design 1 is an introductory course that will explore the fundamental skills, methods, and mindsets of human-centered design. This course is intended for any student who is curious about the design major or wants to learn more about design. It is a required course for all design majors, and provides foundational understanding for subsequent coursework. This course is highly experiential and collaborative. We will cover core design methods through project-based learning and incorporate real world challenges. Students will experience how to prototype and test concepts, research needs, and how to synthesize insights from data to spark novel ideas. Each project will illuminate how design methods can be used to create positive impact in the world. The course will also help students understand possible career pathways for designers through an inspiring and diverse set of guest speakers and project leads.
DESIGN 121
Introduction to Human Values in Design
An intensive project-based class that introduces the central philosophy of the product design program. Students learn how to use the lens of human needs to innovate at the intersection of technical factors (feasibility), business factors (viability), and human values (desirability). Students work toward mastery of the human-centered design methodology through several real-world, team-based projects. Students gain fluency in designing solutions ranging from physical products, to digital interfaces, to services and experiences. Students are immersed in building their individual and team capacities around core design process and methods, and emerge with a strong foundation in needfinding, synthesis, ideation, rapid prototyping, user testing, iteration, and storytelling. Prerequisites: DESIGN 1 and DESIGN 11; strongly recommended: DESIGN 101. This class was formerly listed as ME 115A. It is a required class for undergrad design majors. This class is for design students only.
DESIGN 151
Business Design: Impact and Implications
Business Design: Impact and Implications introduces business concepts and personal capabilities to designers critical to the development, launch, and success of new products and services in for-profit and social enterprises. Functionally, students will learn to build the business case for new products, including skills such as market sizing, cost estimation, P&L modeling, and raising capital. In addition, business functions such as marketing, growth, and product management and the role of designers in businesses will be explored through class visitors and case studies. Class projects, culminating in a final demo day to industry experts, will develop teamwork and effectiveness in live presentations, written communications, and video storytelling. This course is required for undergraduate students in Product Design and, as such, priority will be given to these students. If you are not in the Product Design program, instructor permission is needed for enrollment. This class was formerly listed as ME 115C. Strongly recommended: DESIGN 121 (formerly ME115a) and DESIGN 141 (formerly ME115b).
DESIGN 161A
Human Behavior + Multi-stakeholder Research
“Build for the Human Experience”
This method depth is an opportunity for students to develop an understanding on how to build the body of knowledge that will allow them to execute effective design AND how to use research to modify and evolve design directions as they manifest in the world. This method uses qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand people. Who we are, what we do, and why we do it. A better understanding of us will help better design products, inventions, and policies for our world. Classes focus on communication and psychology to help understand how to design for the human experience.
3. Choose a Domain Focus Area
Domain Focus Areas are about designing for a specific field. Each of our program’s Domains are laden with wicked problems that call for design principles to find solutions. After you select your Domain, you collaborate with faculty from the affiliated schools, receive advisor assignments who help investigate the intersection of design with that field, and program opportunities with fellow Domain students. Having this focus area grounds design work in a particular context, and consequently allows for a unique combination of classes across Stanford to supplement the training from our design classes.
Students with Climate & Environment as their Domain Focus Area gain knowledge around environmental problem solving at macro and micro scales. Environmental problem-solving using design unveils an inspiring path of creativity and innovation. It challenges us to envision solutions that not only address issues, but transform them into opportunities for positive change. By blending design principles with a care for nature, we can address real challenges in our environments. Applying design skills can make us active, and leading, participants in solving some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.
Living Matter
Global Development & Poverty
Students with Global Development & Poverty as their Domain Focus Area investigate global governance and its intersection with development and economics. This explores the complexities of international cooperation, policy frameworks, and economic systems. Design can be a transformative force in shaping solutions. By incorporating design principles, we can address global development and poverty in ways that are equitable, and interconnected to the world landscape.
DESIGN 11
Visual Thinking
Visual Thinking is the foundational class for all designers and creative people at Stanford. It teaches you how to access your creativity through a series of projects. Visual thinking, a powerful adjunct to other problem solving modalities, is developed and exercised in the context of solving some fun and challenging design problems. Along the way, the class expands your access to your imagination, helps you see more clearly with the "mind's eye", and learn how to do rapid visualization and prototyping. The emphasis on basic creativity, learning to build in the 3D and digital world, and fluent and flexible idea production. This class was formerly listed as ME 101, and is a required foundational class for undergrad design majors.
DESIGN 131
Advanced Product Design: Needfinding
Needfinding focuses on design research and design planning. The premise of the class is that by studying the world around us, we can get a better understanding of what people need, and use those insights to create meaningful new products and services. Needfinding draws upon theory and methods from anthropology, psychology, engineering and design planning. In this class, students develop proficiency in research and planning through a combination of in- class activities, readings on theory and real world projects. Emphasis is on developing the flexible thinking skills that enable the designer to navigate the future. Prerequisites for undergraduates: DESIGN 121 / ME115A and DESIGN 141 / ME115B, or consent of the instructor. This class was formerly listed as ME 216A. It is a required class for undergrad design majors. Priority for this class will be given to senior design students.
DESIGN 160R
Design Formation
This class is a required advisory class for design juniors that will guide them in exploring personal and purposeful work. In this course, students will be encouraged to clarify their personal and design values with respect to the impact they hope to make as human-centered designers. Class activities will prepare students practically for navigating their careers beyond Stanford. Outcomes will include supporting students in sourcing summer experiences, creating self-designed projects, developing their personal brand and story, and launching a digital portfolio. Throughout the course, Design Formation will allow students to build community in their cohort as well as with the broader design alumni community. Time will be afforded for students to synthesize and integrate material learned in their chosen method depth classes and domain classes. Finally, this course will prepare students to leverage these insights in service of their senior year capstone project.
Healthcare & Health Tech Innovation
Students with Healthcare & Health Technology Innovation as their Domain gain a better understanding in anatomy, physiology, health, and health technology. In this exploration, we can use design skills for solutions that not only address current healthcare challenges but also pave the way for a new era of personalized, accessible, and patient-centered care. Pushing for the production of solutions that pair biological sciences with cutting-edge health technology.
DESIGN 161B
2. Select a Methods Depth
A Methods Depth allows you to go across the university, and the whole School of Engineering, to build up your technical skills. You choose one of three Method Depths tracks. Within each method you will take three classes with a focus on foundational understanding and application. You will get to sharpen making skills and abilities and gain professional fluency.
Physical Design + Manufacturing
“Making in the Physical World”
This method ranges from classes on materials and mechanisms to understanding what is possible with physical design, to manufacturing processes and supply chain logistics to understand how physical design is implemented. Students will work with faculty who have a close partnership with the Product Realization Lab (PRL). Classes in this method will help students understand what they are excited about making. Students will draw from physics and mathematical modeling to build and understand material properties. You will engage with analyzing and calculating to help determine what you will build, and choosing the right materials for what you want your product to do.
Artificial Intelligence + Digital User Experience
“Digital Design”
This method ranges from foundational classes on programming methodologies and human computer interaction to applied courses on digital prototyping, user experience design, and incorporating AI and data science. In this day and age, we are constantly interacting within a digital space. The digital world is increasingly controlling the physical products we interact with. This method aims to understand digital design and its importance for the development of our world. Class offerings include several courses on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science focused on different techniques of AI from vision to language. Students will get to focus on the technology of AI paired with understanding the design process which influences the user interface and user interaction.
Complete the Capstone Sequence
Climate & Environment
Students with Living Matter as their Domain Focus Area learn about biofutures and the possibilities of building with biology. Biofutures explore a revolutionary frontier where the potential of biology converges with innovative design and technology. Building with biology inspires and transforms the way we conceive, construct, and interact with our environments. This emerging field invites us to envision a coexistence between nature and technology, unlocking new possibilities that redefines the future. It's a journey of exploring how biology can build towards a more sustainable and interconnected world.
4. Progress Through our Design Core
The Design Core represents the foundation of our academic program. The core consists of over nine required classes where students learn, work, collaborate, and cultivate skills among fellow design majors. Each class has its own learning outcomes and priorities. It is an integrated sequence that delves into needfinding & user research, expressing ideas visually, rapid prototyping across media, building to think, business factors, storytelling, and more. A key part of the core are the ethics and implications of our design work. This is woven throughout all the core classes. Many of the class activities, topics, and learning outcomes were present dating back to our program’s origin back in the mid 20th century. Some classes complement each other in the core. Others are prerequisites for classes that will expand on the topics further.
The Capstone is where previous class experiences and learning is applied. You reach the Capstone sequence after achieving better fluency in the process of design. Students will scope and execute design work that integrates their methods and domain focus areas over a 2-quarter long sequence.
Advanced Design: Capstone 1
Team-based project using knowledge, methodology, and skills obtained in the Product Design major. Students will form a team, identify an opportunity space of interest, and design and implement a product (digital, physical, experiential, ... ) within that opportunity space. This class was formerly listed as ME 216B/C.
>> See Explore Course Listing
Oceans
Students with Oceans as their domain learn about the sea, ecology, and biological change and how they affect marine conservation and management. Ecosystems are both complex and interconnected. Thoughtful design can play a pivotal role in addressing 21st century oceanic challenges. By diving beyond the surface of the water, designers can envision solutions that harmonize the friction between human activities and endangered marine environments.
DESIGN 101
History and Ethics of Design
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In this class we will examine the history of design, the challenges that designers at different historical moments have had to face and the ethical questions that have arisen from those choices. This class will explore a non-traditional view of design, looking at both the sung and unsung figures of history and question the choices they made, up to and including recent events in the Silicon Valley. Course work will include group projects as well as weekly writing. This course is required for undergraduate students in Product Design and, as such, priority will be given to these students. If you are not in the Product Design program, instructor permission is needed for enrollment.
DESIGN 141
Product Design Methods
This course will introduce the basic concepts of human factors and demonstrate the importance of understanding and considering human capabilities and limits in product and system design. This will include an overview of both cognitive and physical human characteristics, methods to analyze human factors constraints, and design methods for prototyping and evaluating the usability of physical products and systems. In this course individual- and team-based design projects are used to emphasize the integration between human factors analysis and evaluation, authoring design requirements and translating these to both physical products and systems. Prerequisites: DESIGN 11 (formerly ME101), and DESIGN 121 (formerly ME115A). Strongly recommended: DESIGN 172 (formerly ME110), ME102, Psych 1. This class was formerly listed as ME 115B. It is a required class for undergrad design majors. This class is for design students only.
DESIGN 170
Visual Frontiers
The student will learn how to use graphic design to communicate online, in person, and through printed matter. Fundamentals of visual communications will be applied to branding exercises, typographic studies, color explorations, drawing exercises, use of photography, and use of grid and layout systems. This class was formerly listed as ME 125. This course can satisfy the visual expression elective requirement for undergrad design majors.
Advanced Design: Capstone 2
Team-based project using knowledge, methodology, and skills obtained in the Product Design major. Students will form a team, identify an opportunity space of interest, and design and implement a product (digital, physical, experiential, ... ) within that opportunity space. This class was formerly listed as ME 216B/C.
>> See Explore Course Listing
Prospective Students
We are excited for your interest in Design! We are neager to support Stanford undeclared undergraduates at whatever stage they are at in exploring our major. Many students face similar questions and wonderings about our academic program. We’re here to help you get started!
“What can I do if I am interested in Design?”
Join our Interest Listserv
Self-subscribe to pd_interest@lists.stanford.edu to receive the lates info, updates, announcements.
Explore Design Electives
Taking d.school elective classes and IntroSems are a great way to explore different facets of design.
Email Student Services
For inquiries about your degree progress, declaring, or student support email our Student Services Officer.
Talk to a Peer Advisor
Visit a student Peer Advisor at Office Hours to hear their insight and advice for pursuing the Design major.
Ask Questions
Email ugdesign-advising@stanford.edu and stop by Office Hours to ask your questions to our advising team.
Declare Early
Click into our Design: Declaration Form so you understand the steps for declaring our major, and declare no later than the end of your sophomore year.
Review a 4-year Plan
Review the Design 4-year plans to help you plan out your classes and schedule over the next few years.
Watch Discover the Major
Watch our Discover the Major Night recording from February, 2023 where faculty, students, and advisors talk through the Design major.
Attend an Event
Check the d.school events page to see upcoming programs and events open to interested students.
Meet with your UAD
Make an appointment with your Undergraduate Advising Director to discuss academic and career goals.
Visit the d.school
Stop by the d.school to see the building, spaces, and people within our academic program.
Ready to be a Design major? Declare today!
>> See steps on our Design: Declaration Form
>> Declare “Design” in Axess
>> Review our SoE Design Undergraduate Handbook Page
>> Fill out a Design Program Sheet
>> Bring your paperwork to Office Hours
>>Email ugdesign-advising@stanford.edu if you need assistance
Commencement
Each year we celebrate the accomplishments, milestones, and degree conferrals of our undergraduate students.
Awards and Recognition
Robert H. McKim Award
The Robert H. McKim Award is given out each year to outstanding students in the major who demonstrate through their studies, and projects, the exceptional embodiment of design principles taught by Professor McKim. Robert McKim was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering who pioneered our methodology in human centered design in the 1960s, and was a force in the program for more than 30 years. His courses and projects taught students to use creativity and problem solving to improve the human condition. McKim immersed his students in a design approach he called “visual thinking” that stressed imagining, sketching, and rapid prototyping over drafting, writing, and calculations. He believed in the power of design to change the world.
Award Recipients:
Max Harris, 2023
Elena Kamas, 2023
Enya Lu, 2023
Breanna Sandoval, 2023
Distinction
Students in this category graduate as part of the top 15% of their class at Stanford.
Award Recipients:
Enya Lu, 2023
Kay Bradley Award
The Kay Bradley Award was generated by graduates of the Mechanical Engineering department to honor Kay and at the same time to reward other staff members in the School of Engineering who serve students with the same level of professionalism, friendliness, integrity, and devotion as Kay.
Award Recipients:
Renée Chao, 2023
PBK
Phi Beta Kappa
Students with this membership are invited based on their exceptional academic achievements across the arts and sciences. Undergraduates in Phi Beta Kappa show a breath of engagement through taking classes in the humanities and art, natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, and social sciences.
Award Recipients:
Enya Lu, 2023
Tau Beta Kappa
The Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society is the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession. It invites members with high academic achievements in engineering to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges.
Award Recipients:
Enya Lu, 2023
Max Harris, 2023
Maria Metzger, 2023
Design
Welcome to Stanford’s Undergraduate Design Degree
Our Home at Stanford
Human Centered Design
The mission of our program is to graduate designers who can synthesize technology, aesthetics, and business factors in service of human need. Students emerge with both a strong engineering depth and technical know-how, as well as creative, visual thinking abilities and a deeply human-centered orientation to problem-solving. Their ability to seamlessly integrate across these two “right brain / left-brain" ways of thinking empowers them to make and build products, services, and experiences with transformative potential in service of people. As Product Design has evolved into Design, it remains a degree that provides a strong technical engineering foundation, while expanding both the ways of making and domain application areas for design.
An Interdisciplinary Program
An IDP is a degree program at Stanford that doesn’t fit neatly within any one department. (Human Biology and Symbolic Systems are two of the best known (and loved) IDPs, for example). On September 1, 2022 Stanford’s long-standing Product Design (undergraduate) program moved under the umbrella of the d.school as an interdisciplinary program (IDP). Product Design has always been a uniquely interdisciplinary major, with coursework spanning Mechanical Engineering, Art, Computer Science, Psychology, and other fields. This blending of design engineering with a human-centered lens was core to the trailblazing founders. With its evolution to an IDP, Design is now even more interdisciplinary as a major. This is reflected in our leadership, where you get to take classes, and in our teaching community.
A Message from our Director for Undergraduate Studies
“In design, we believe the unknown holds creative possibility and opportunity. Students in our program learn how to sit in the discomfort of ambiguity and leverage its possibilities in order to make solutions and shape the future. Design is needed more urgently than ever in the world, and across a widening array of disciplines. We’ve evolved the degree to support our students and meet the needs of this moment.”
-Kelly Schmutte
Our Students
By The Numbers:
130+ Current Declared Design Students
~73 New Declared Students in 2023-2024
~11% Student Athletes
~26% Pursuing Multiple Majors
~17% Pursuing a Major + Minor
~5% International Students
~68% Women
(As of 4/16/24)
Student Spotlights:
Advising Team
Whether you are declaring the Design major, asking questions, or preparing a 4-year plan, visit our Office Hours throughout the academic year for support!
Faculty Advisors
Faculty Advisors are a select group of current program faculty instructors. They are individually assigned to each declared student to help offer guidance on class planning, petitions, and general questions. Declared students can reach out to their individual Faculty Advisor via email, or meet with them at their Office Hours.
Carissa Carter
Hi!! I’m Robert Joseph (he/him) and I’m a rising senior studying Product Design with interests in computer science and art too. I’m beyond excited to be a Design peer advisor this year and I can’t wait to get to know even more of my peers within the community. I’m especially excited to support folks in course planning and designing their individual Stanford experience. In my free time, you’ll likely find me cooking, playing video games, watching reality TV, or napping.
Brett Newman
Kelly Schmutte
David Kelley
Peer Advisors
Peer Advisors represent the heart of our advising efforts. They are declared students in the major who can offer program guidance on declaring, filling out program sheets, class planning, and general questions. You can best meet with them at drop in Office Hours. They can be reached at ugdesign-advising@stanford.edu.
Seth Nguyen
Hey everyone! My name is Seth Nguyen, and I’m a senior studying Product Design. I’ll be one of your peer advisors, and I’m excited to foster a strong and tight-knit community among the different design programs this year. In my free time, I like shooting film, eating good food, and listening to/playing music. Fun fact: I performed with an Australian circus group.
Katrina Kuo
Hi! My name is Katrina Kuo, and I am a junior majoring in Design on the AI + Digital User Experience track. I love the design community on campus and am part of both the Design for America and Stanford Womxn in Design student organizations. I’m so excited to be one of the peer advisors this year and look forward to sharing my journey in the Design major and collaborating to craft memorable events! During my leisure time, I enjoy going on hiking adventures, relaxing at the beach, watching comedies, and sketching.
Robert Joseph
Liv Jenks
Born and raised in San Francisco, Liv Jenks is a senior studying Design and Art History. With parents who are writers and editors, she came to design by way of a passion for storytelling, and identifying the underlying story of a product — What need does it fill? Who does it serve? How will we communicate our process and solution? This past summer, she was a Product Management Intern for Sesame, a consumer healthcare start-up, and previously she served as a Product Design Intern at Faire, a wholesale marketplace. She’s deeply interested in leveraging the intersection of strategy and design to build products that align business goals with user needs and values. In her free time, she loves to run, listen to house music, and cook with family and friends.
Student Community Leads
Community Leads help with the creation and coordination of community building efforts. They work closely with our very own Renée Chao on facilitating memorable experiences for declared students.
Jannah Kara Vira
Hi my name is Jannah Kara Vira (she/her) and I’m a senior majoring in Product Design! What really gets me excited is the intersection of design and psychology, especially how our understanding of human behavior can inform and shape the products we create. I’m excited to be a Design Community Lead and get to know more of my fellow aspiring designers! If there’s anything you want to see, please reach out – I’m always down to listen and collaborate. Outside of my academic and design pursuits, I’m usually indulging in some cheesy show on Netflix, taking long walks (not on the beach), or giving a tour on campus. If you see me, say hi!
Nikita Tan
Hey, I’m Nikita Tan (co2024) and I specialize in physical product design, as well as spatial and interior. I love painting, poetry, fashion, and fantasy novels, so if you want to reach out to chat about these things or absolutely anything else, I’m always down :) Looking forward to seeing all of you around the d.school this year!
Academic Operations
Our Academic Ops team can help you navigate some of the more complex aspects of being a student. Areas of support include processes around enrollment, degree progress, and the student experience in our major.
Renée Chao
Degree Programs Experience Lead
Colton Brasel
Student Services Officer
Megan Stariha
Associate Director of Academics
Sean Follmer