Kristin Hughes
Kristin Hughes is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design, where her interdisciplinary research integrates design thinking, creativity, and communication design to foster meaningful change. She specializes in community-engaged and participatory design, developing collaborative solutions that empower individuals, enhance civic engagement, and strengthen personal agency. Through her work, Kristin uncovers hidden narratives and highlights the unique qualities that define a community’s identity, emphasizing its distinctive strengths. Her leadership in community engagement ensures that programs and services are responsive and sustainable, fostering deeper connections between people and systems to drive innovative opportunities and solutions.
Kristin’s work encompasses translational design, equipping audiences with creative tools and methodologies to address systemic barriers in healthcare, such as communication gaps, cultural biases, and socioeconomic disparities. By merging design thinking with translational medicine, she champions equitable healthcare delivery that leads to meaningful improvements in patient care. This approach improves health outcomes, reduces inequities, and ultimately enriches the healthcare experience for everyone.
Since joining Carnegie Mellon in 2001, Kristin has taught across all levels of the curriculum, from first-year courses to advanced studios, including Design for Social Innovation and Advanced Typographic Systems. In 2024, she began co-teaching Designing with CARE: Co-Creating Solutions for Complex Care Coordination in Oncology, an innovative course developed in collaboration with faculty from UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, and Duquesne University School of Nursing.
A frequent conference speaker, Kristin has received multiple national and international design awards for her work. She also leads workshops for organizations, educators, community leaders, and students worldwide. She holds an MFA in Visual Communication from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University. Additionally, she has studied abroad at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and Yale University's workshop in Brissago, Switzerland.
Below are links to various case studies of Kristin's work and the multitude of community partners she has had the privilege and honor to work with and alongside:
Click! Urban Adventure Game - Click! is an adventure game intended to sustain and incorporate lifelong interest in STEM to the 11- to 14-year-old female demographic.
Fitwits: Games for Health - Fitwits is a system of products and services that enable families to participate in a discussion about health, instead of feeling like the recipients of a lesson or the target of a health intervention.
Latham St. Commons - You can think of Latham St. Commons (LSC) as a living laboratory, where we test ideas and try out new ways of living as a community and provide individuals with new social, educational, and economic opportunities.
Meet Me Halfway - The tools presented in Meet Me Halfway are designed to lower barriers to entry into a neighborhood, allowing outsiders to make connections and arrive at a shared understanding of the community’s assets and obstacles.
Night Owl Bakery - Night Owl Bakery is a new type of workforce development program for underserved young adults that focuses on the positive change catalyzed when individuals are supported within a caring, forward-thinking, educational environment.
The Octopus Garden - The Octopus Garden is a well-trafficked and loved community hub. It opened in 2009 and over time transformed from an impermeable vacant lot into raised garden beds—supporting life in many and often unexpected ways.