In the field of mechanical engineering, “design” used to be limited to machine design. Students who attended engineering schools were taught how mechanical components worked like gears, fasteners, springs, clutches, and brakes. These parts would then be assembled to produce working machines needed for their time.

Stanford started revolutionizing this field beginning in 1957 when Dr. John Arnold was hired in the Graduate School of Business and School of Engineering. Arnold’s background was in philosophy and engineering. While at MIT, he pioneered a project-oriented version of design education that he brought with him to lead Stanford’s Mechanical Engineering department. Arnold was described as a “rebel” with strong interests in personal creativity. He collaborated with luminaries in his field including Buckminister Fuller and Abraham Maslow.

Arnold hired Robert McKim in 1958 to be a lecturer within the Design Division. Together, the two started up the Product Design program which became the only one of its kind. McKim’s design approach of “visual thinking” was paired with a human-centered approach. He stressed practices of rapid prototyping, sketching, and imagining over the conventional calculations, writing, and drafting. Needfinding, idea sketching, ambidextrous thinking, and abductive reasoning awakened the senses to give the designer “a license to forge ahead.” As Bernie Roth, a Product Design faculty member since 1962 put it, “he really believed in the power of design to change and improve the world.” With Arnold’s sudden passing in 1964, McKim continued on the Product Design program for the next 20 years. The projects, courses, and exercises that McKim developed with students all those decades ago became, and are still today, at the core of a design education at Stanford. Contributing to a legacy of Designers changing the world.

The construction of a new building in 1977 would house Product Design and the expanding engineering programs at Stanford. The Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Center was named after the former Provost, and Dean of the School of Engineering who mentored engineering pioneers such as William Hewlett and David Packard.

The program developed new foundational principles over the years that spread worldwide to education and industry. Most famous among these are the concepts and practice of Visual Thinking, Need Finding, Ambidextrous Thinking, Design Thinking, Iterative Prototyping, Learning by Doing, Human Centered and Whole Person Design. In 1990, the program incorporating the new field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and joint courses with computer science professor Terry Winograd were added.

In 2005, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, or d.school, was founded at Stanford with co-founders David Kelley and Bernie Roth. The d.school emerged as an innovative hub for design thinking and interdisciplinary exploration. With a focus on fostering creativity, the d.school has become a beacon of inspiration, driving transformative approaches to education and problem-solving. David Kelley and Bernie Roth's pioneering spirit laid the foundation for a dynamic community that continues to shape the future of design and innovation at Stanford.

In 2011, the Terman Building was demolished and the space was repurposed in accordance with the 2005 Master Plan to redesign the science and engineering quad to further address the evolving needs of an engineering education [for the 21st century].

In the subsequent years since the start of Stanford’s Product Design program, design programs have expanded around the world. Today’s top design programs are increasingly interdisciplinary, systems-oriented, and highly focused on technology (product management, UX design, etc.), design-justice (equity-centered design, transition design, etc.), entrepreneurship, and innovation. These shifts in content are being accompanied by shifts in form as well. Programs are moving away from the traditional, and often individualist, studio-based approach to one of engaging in more integrated community-based work, with the goal of tackling the world’s most wicked problems creatively and collaboratively. Cutting edge design degrees like ours are not only teaching students design processes and skills, they are cultivating leaders who have the mindsets and dispositions to confidently and equitably lead through major complexity and ambiguity.

The traditional Product Design program has evolved to meet the advancements of the field of Design for modern day needs. Particularly adapting to emphasize human-centered design. Our perspective on human centered design places a central focus on people, society, and the planet by bringing in methods from behavioral and social science to understand problems and inform our designs. Human centered design methods differ from engineering design methods, which are grounded in the application of mathematical and scientific principles. A need for a transformed major to combine human centered design methods with traditional engineering design methods would help students understand the complex socio-technical and behavioral problems facing our world and uniquely the 21st century.

Starting in the 2022 academic year, the academic program moved from Mechanical Engineering to the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design which began administering the engineering degrees. The new BS IDP was presented to the School of Engineering Undergraduate Council in November of 2021. This also included the proposal for the MS Design Impact degree to evolve into a MS Design degree as reviewed by the council and Faculty Senate which received approval.

Today the Product Design program has officially evolved into the new Design major. There are currently three Methods Tracks students can choose from, and five Domain Focus Areas. The d.school held their inagural diploma ceremony on June 18th, 2023 with the first students conferring the new BS in Design major from the School of Engineering. A growing number of undergraduate students are joining the 60+ year legacy of Product Design by receiving an education in Design to start companies, join organizations, and engage with meaningful design work to meet the challenges of our world.