The Heart and Design Project: Meaningful Work in the Contemporary Design Practice

Abstract

The human desire to have a meaningful life is universal. A meaningful life is recognized as one that creates purpose and has heart-felt connections (Heintzelman, King, & Anderson, 2014; Maslow & Langfeld, 1943). This heuristic-style study and subsequent project examines the interconnected relationship between designers, the practice of design, and meaningful work. For individuals who make their living as designers, creating a meaningful practice often conflicts with the profit-minded, machine-like organization of business. This research explores a contemporary movement in business that humanizes traditional corporate systems to expand profit-minded purpose to include beneficial social and environmental causes. The central objective for the Heart and Design project is to put heart into the practice of design. For the purpose of this project, heart represents fulfilling human connections and the joy and satisfaction that result from contributing to society in ways that make it better. A fulfilled designer can contribute effectively with meaningful purpose to the entire creative and strategic process. The Heart and Design project theorizes that, instead of limiting the design process to making an idea marketable, design can make the idea itself better. The extended effects of this project application add value to the designer’s practice and corresponding business.