Community Affiliate Partners

Through the Human Centered Design & Engineering Community Affiliate Partner Program, students work with with nonprofit and community partners on projects by applying human-centered design methods.

One of HCDE’s strategic goals is to advance and sustain diversity and equity across our work and communities. This means that we are committed to further developing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across our outreach and teaching.

Through the HCDE Community Affiliate Partner Program, HCDE students work on socially beneficial projects and give back to the community by helping our partners engage in human centered design. Types of projects include prototyping a part of a website or technology interface, evaluating the usability of a website, or applying design thinking to solve an organizational challenge.

Find ways to connect through our Community Affiliate Partner Program below.

Suggest a volunteer job for HCDE students

Propose a volunteer project for an individual student or a small team.
Timeframe: Ongoing

Sample volunteer work may include: redesign a section of your website or app, conduct research, redesign a process flow, redesign volunteer onboarding, and more. Note that students are not necessarily coders and implementing prototypes is not part of the HCDE curriculum, but some students may have those skills.

Next steps: Send your volunteer job description to Melissa Ewing at mewing3@uw.edu for internal posting to students.

List your organization as an HCDE Community Partner

Work with students to Design for Good.
Timeframe: Ongoing

When your organization is an HCDE Community Partner, HCDE will share your contact information with students for them to reach out to you with their ideas for how they can support you in a volunteer capacity. HCDE students are eager to add value to their community with "Design for Good" projects that they can add to their design and research portfolios.

Next steps: Email Melissa Ewing at mewing3@uw.edu to set up a call about the type of work you require.

Sponsor a usability study

In HCDE's usability studies course, students engage in product and user research, formulate and conduct a usability study, and generate a report on their findings.
Timeframe: January – March

HCDE accepts usability project proposals in autumn quarter for the winter usability studies course. Students generally complete an initial study proposal, an interaction or experience map, a study plan, a study kit, and a final report and presentation.

Sponsor a capstone project

Capstone projects are student-run, large-scale projects that encompass two quarters of student work.
Timeframe: January – June

HCDE's capstone course is a culminating experience for students that synthesizes materials learned throughout their degree program.

Propose a Directed Research Group project

Work with faculty and a small group of students on a research project.
Timeframe: 10 weeks (autumn, winter, spring, or summer quarters)

Directed Research Groups are a great way to work closely with a group of students to explore your research topic. Research sponsors run a Directed Research Group in conjunction with a member of HCDE's faculty. Directed Research Groups are offered every academic quarter and students across HCDE's undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs receive credit for the course. Sponsored research requires a high level of involvement and therefore provides the greatest amount of interaction with students and faculty. Learn more about proposing a research topic.