| Institute for Human Centered Design

Dedicated to enhancing the experiences
of people of all ages, abilities, and cultures
through excellence in design.

Let's Work Together

The Changing Reality of Disability in America: 2020

This documentary film and research project reexamines the experience of disability in America, and shines a light on the stories of those all too often left behind. Watch the documentary below and read the full research report.

Services

Education

Opportunities for learning through IHCD include a Lunch & Learn series, trainings, workshops and events. Internship and fellowship opportunities are also available all-year-round.

Consulting

Our scope for consulting includes, among others, plan reviews, assessment of accessibility in the built environment and testing of digital and web accessibility.

Design

IHCD works with entrepreneurs, designers and businesses to evaluate concepts, prototypes or existing designs to assess usability for the widest possible spectrum of people.

Research

IHCD has an established database of user/experts, chosen for each opportunity to find the best match between the person and the project.

Services

Inclusive Design

Inclusive design is design that works for the widest sepctrum of users without the need for specialized adaptation, It centers around the user experience with a focus on social sustainability. IHCD uses the World Health Organization’s Definition of Disability as the foundation for our consulting and research work in the field and in our user/expert lab. We believe that good design must work not only for as many users as possible, but also enhance everyone’s experience.

Inclusive Design

News & Events

Best Practices for the Design of Accessible COVID-19 Home Test Kits

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech program has released "Best Practices for the Design of Accessible COVID-19 Home Tests", a document with recommendations for developers and manufacturers of diagnostic tech to make at-…

Restorative Cities book cover illustration by designer Spring Braccia-Beck. Illustration shows a colorful urban intersection with green social spaces, large buildings, one with a bakery on the street level, a library, cars on the streets.

RSVP for IHCD Webcast on Jan 23: Restorative Cities — Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Overcrowding, noise and air pollution, long commutes and lack of daylight can take a huge toll on the mental wellbeing of city-dwellers. Covid-19 brought home just how much the spaces we occupy on a day-to-day basis can affect our mental health - we also need open spaces to drive down infection…

MVRD submission for the Portland Museum of Art competition

IHCD partners with MVRD for the Portland Museum of Art competition

We're excited to share MVRD's proposal for the Portland Museum of Art competition. As part of the museum's campus unification and expansion, the design responds to the PMA's "Art for All" vision with a beacon of the museum's new era, turning the museum inside out - opening the museum to the city…

Woman with olive-colored skin, long dark hair and big, bright smile. She is wearing red lipstick, black shirt and denim shirt with popped collar.

IHCD's Director of Public Inclusive Transit is a member of Healey-Driscoll’s Transition Committee

We’re excited to announce, our Director of Public Inclusive Transit, Reggie B. Ramos is a member of Healey-Driscoll’s Transportation Transition Committee.

Transition committees aim to guide Massachusetts Governor-elect Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Kim Driscoll on…

News & Events

User/Expert Lab

A user/expert is a person who has developed expertise by means of their lived experience in dealing with the challenges of the environment due to a physical, sensory or cognitive functional limitation. IHCD has an established database of user/experts who range from adolescents to people in their ‘80s. Participants help review the usability and accessibility of physical environments as well as products, services and new technologies.

User/Expert Lab User/Expert Registration

New England ADA Center

IHCD is home to the New England ADA Center; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a comprehensive federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in all aspects of life on the basis of disability. There are five Titles within the ADA that outline rights and responsibilities of employers, state and local government, businesses and non-profits, architects and designers and individuals and advocates, and IHCD strives to help customers reach standards set by these titles.