Norman Award

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The Don Norman Design Award and Conference

The Don Norman Design Award and Conference (DN DAC) is an International program to advance the development of humanity-centered design education and projects that provide evidence of their capability to make significant enhancements to society. The phrase “Humanity-Centered” emphasizes the rights of all of humanity and addresses the entire ecosystem (the term ecosystem includes all living creatures plus the earth’s environment).

DN-DAC has two major activities:

1.       Awards to early-career groups and educational organizations;

2.       An international conference for humanity-centered design education groups and projects.

Recognizing Transformational Projects

For early career individuals and groups who demonstrate progress on addressing societal issues through Humanity-Centered Design. Projects must demonstrate effectiveness through implementation with the target audience.

Recognizing Transformational Education Programs

For educational programs with demonstrable impact upon students who learn multidisciplinary collaboration for humanity-centered design.

Recognizing Transformational Projects

For early career individuals and groups who demonstrate progress on addressing societal issues through Humanity-Centered Design. Projects must demonstrate effectiveness through implementation with the target audience.

Recognizing Transformational Education Programs

For educational programs with demonstrable impact upon students who learn multidisciplinary collaboration for humanity-centered design.

Recognizing Transformational Projects

For early career individuals and groups who demonstrate progress on addressing societal issues through Humanity-Centered Design. Projects must demonstrate effectiveness through implementation with the target audience.

Recognizing Transformational Education Programs

For educational programs with demonstrable impact upon students who learn multidisciplinary collaboration for humanity-centered design.

2024 Don Norman Design Awards: Criteria

We seek design projects that prioritize humanity and have already shown positive impacts on society. These projects can take many forms, from physical devices to software to changes in organizational structures. The key is that they must significantly enhance people’s lives. We require that the project has been implemented and tested within a community to document its benefits. While we do not require a large-scale project, we do require a significant impact that can be measured through monitoring and surveys. To ensure success, we recommend setting clear goals beforehand and gathering baseline information before introducing the project.

The Five Principles of Humanity-Centered Design

The 2024 Program Schedule

The 2024 Awards will be awarded in San Diego, California (USA) as part of the DNDA Conference in Fall 2024 at the World Design Policy Conference.

We’re currently preparing all the details to assist you with your submission. Stay tuned for updates here on the site!

An International Conference

The conference brings together individuals, groups, and educational organizations engaged in Humanity-Centered education or societal projects. The goal is to enable interactions, and networking, coupled with papers, workshops, and demonstrations of work, enabling all to share insights and experiences as well as to honor each year’s award recipients. In addition to talks and demonstrations by award winners we plan a mix of invited activities and peer-reviewed submitted activities, talks, workshops, and demonstration. 

The first conference will be held in San Diego, California (USA) in the Fall 2024 as part of the at the World Design Policy Conference. Information about submissions and attendance is being developed.

Join our email list to be keep up to date.

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keep up to date on the requirements for nominations.





    Humanity-Centered Design

    - learning from Don Norman, the pioneer

    Don Norman, a renowned cognitive systems engineering and usability expert, has dedicated his career to humanizing technology with a global impact on the design field. Throughout six decades, he has held senior business executive positions at Apple, HP, and Nielsen Norman group while also teaching at prestigious universities such as Harvard, University of California San Diego, and Northwestern. He has authored 21 books on design and has been recognized through his election to the National Academy of Engineering. The Design of Everyday Things, written in the late 1980s, remains a reference text for designers.
    In Design for a Better World, Norman stresses that massive solutions to societal problems often fail due to a lack of understanding of affected communities. Humanity-Centered Design involves developing projects with impacted people, who better understand their needs and capabilities. Incremental implementation allows for feedback and goal modification as issues and capabilities change.

    Global Recognition.

    Corporate and individual sponsors of the Don Norman Design Awards and Conference are recognized globally as supporters of society-impacting innovation.

    For all other matters related to this Program,
    contact [email protected]