The Senior Design Challenge offers partner organizations a project team composed of an impressive cohort of senior students at Dartmouth College. The interdisciplinary, human-centered nature of the course is an ideal platform for uncovering unique insights, developing strategies, and implementing creative solutions for the human-centered challenges of the 21st century.
The best and brightest.
Students in the Senior Design Challenge are selected through a highly competitive process and come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from computer science to psychology and economics. These students are passionate about delving into projects that promise to have an impact in the world beyond the classroom, and commit themselves to furthering their partners' mission through rigorous research, creative ideation and iterative prototyping.
Actionable insights.
The human-centered nature of design research creates a unique advantage of this course, as students will combine intensive field-research with broader secondary research to derive unique insights driven by empathy and a deep understanding of the key users of a given challenge.
The insights that the students produce—embodied in several reports and presentations—equip partner organizations with actionable strategies to drive real change for their customers and other stakeholders.
Tailored deliverables.
The two-term structure of the Senior Design Challenge (twice as long as most Dartmouth courses) offers a unique opportunity. This extended timeline allows students to thoroughly immerse themselves in the project, delve into intensive research, and design solutions that will be carried out through to implementation.
Our partner organizations have the opportunity to define exactly what kind of deliverables make the most sense for them. The students will deliver the physical, digital, or experiential prototypes, and work with our partner organizations to pilot and plan for the implementation of their innovative ideas.
"It was a wonderful experience working with the students, and their contributions will live on far beyond our two terms together."
- 2022 Partner Organization