Cultural Role of Design

David Kelley discusses the evolution in design since the first TED event in 1984 in this human-centered design keynote. As founder of IDEO, the enigmatic design firm, David Kelley has been a part of many iconic design innovations throughout the past couple of decades. A pattern that he recognizes is the shift to a more human-centered approach towards design. Things like behavior and personality are becoming more and more important when determining how something should be created or presented.

Rather than creating 3D models to showcase a product, designers in various fields are showcasing their products by including people within the demonstrations. This gives the product a more relateable quality to it in that people can see the man/machine interaction at play.

Design is gradually taking on a more cultural role in the 21st century, a development that will lead to more compelling and interactive creations in the future.