Making It Real
Celebrating the Junior Designers’ Final Projects and Awards
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During week ten of spring quarter, the UC San Diego Design Lab’s Junior Designers presented their year-end projects—each shaped by interdisciplinary collaboration and grounded in real-world impact. These student teams spent winter quarter immersed in the “discover” and “define” phases of the double diamond model for humanity-centered design. With those foundations in place, they devoted spring quarter to “ideation” and “prototyping,” producing three innovative concepts designed to support local organizations.
✨ Team We Kan (Kate Songpetchmongkol, Naomi Crowder, Gabriella Strudler, and Ann Yang) partnered with the Design Lab's regional Educators Alliance to develop a platform that empowers educators to form collaborative networks and spark bottom-up change in schools and communities.
📚 Team Primary Stakeholders (Riya Rao, Sonia Klein, Mason Oelschlager, and Noelle Lam), also working with the Educators Alliance, created and tested a prototype designed to strengthen student-educator relationships. Their goal: help both groups form supportive connections in response to an increasingly complex educational landscape.
🏠 Team Sweet Home (Arwen Lin, Jason Leung, and Pari Hathiram) delivered a concept to improve how housing researchers discover and filter funding opportunities. They collaborated with the Center for Housing Policy and Design to ensure subject-matter relevance.
The quarter culminated not only in final presentations but also in a celebratory award ceremony. Three junior designers were recognized for their standout contributions:
- Gabriella Strudler received the Composed Spark award for her unwavering professional presence and the creativity that illuminated her work all year long.
- Sonia Klein was honored with the Inner Compass award: when conflicting data emerged between user surveys and qualitative interviews, Klein identified the discrepancy and uncovered deeper themes to guide her team’s final solution.
- Naomi Crowder earned the Calm Catalyst award for being a steady, quietly powerful force.
“It is always such a privilege to witness the hard work, talent, and growth of our Junior Designers during their showcase. Congratulations!” said Michèle Morris, Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives, who leads the Junior Designer program.
Also in attendance was Caitlyn Cielo, a recent UC San Diego graduate and Junior Designer alum. Reflecting on her time in the program, she shared, “The Junior Designer program has played a very important role in my success during and after college. Not only did the program give me the foundational design knowledge I needed to thrive, but it also exposed me to real-world experiences, mentorship, and a network of professionals that guided me toward a career I truly love.” Cielo credits the program with giving her the tools and mindset to graduate early and launch her career as a product designer.
"Not only did the program give me the foundational design knowledge I needed to thrive, but it also exposed me to real-world experiences, mentorship, and a network of professionals that guided me toward a career I truly love."
This year also marked a season of evolution for the program. As part of the Design Lab’s broader mission to bridge research, academics, and community impact—a vision seeded by Lab founder Don Norman—the program underwent intentional redesign. Senior Vivian Xiang, who is graduating this quarter with a degree in international studies and business, was part of the redesign team.
Being part of the team that revamped the Junior Designer Program and seeing the results of our countless hours of hard work and dedication has been incredibly gratifying. ‘Proud’ doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Xiang said following the ceremony.
Also graduating this year were Junior Designers Tanvi Kuchimanchi, Anna Lin, and Huimeng (Cynthia) Lu. Program administrators honored them and Cielo with speeches and honor cords. Seniors in the program have been focused exclusively on work with industry and civic partners as they put their skills into practice.
The Junior Designer program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to work on real-world, hands-on design challenges alongside mentors and community partners. To join, students must complete both DSGN 1 and DSGN 100 during their first year in the program. Junior Designers build on classroom learning with new tools and methodologies: in the first year, they focus on training and apprenticeship; in second, project work; and in the third year, they focus on project leadership. The program is also co-curricular record-certified, meaning students’ participation and skills will appear on their official transcript.
🗓️ Applications for the 2024–2025 Junior Designer cohort are open through June 30 and can be accessed via Handshake.
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