DFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2021

As a scholar well-known for human-centered design research, Patrick Whitney has provided advice to many individuals and organizations. When it comes to helping humans, he brings an often overlooked appreciation of the complexity of social, cultural, and behavioural problems in today’s world.

Patrick Whitney is one of a few people in the world of design who has developed and strengthened the relationship between theory and practice.  He has contributed to design’s body of knowledge in many ways, including formulating frameworks for design, developing new education programs, advising a variety of institutions, organizing new conferences, and writing for publications on design, new media, learning and economic development. He has also persuaded organizations in the design field to increase their emphasis on frameworks and methods. His experience has given cities in Korea, India, Thailand, Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan a more strategic, innovative, and human-centered approach to design, adding to their existing strengths in manufacturing.

“It’s better to get roughly right than precisely wrong.” — Patrick Whitney