CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Faculty and staff at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Siebel Center for Design (SCD) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in Johannesburg, South Africa, created a hybrid, eight-week course that successfully launched the Design Action Hub, an initiative supported by the university’s Vision 2030 Implementation Grant.
The goal for the Design Action Hub was to develop a collaboration between Illinois and UJ to design and implement a cutting-edge platform that combines the humanities and design thinking to unpack what it means to be oppressed.
The Design Action Hub kicked off in Fall 2024 with the pilot eight-week, hybrid course called, “DTX 495: The Designer’s Guide to Oppression and Resistance.”
This course was offered through Illinois’ Siebel Center for Design and UJ’s Department of History and aimed at addressing problems created by modern-day slavery with human-centered design (HCD) approaches.
It examined the distinctions between historical patterns of enslavements and the types of abuses that are currently defined as modern-day slavery while also equipping students with HCD tools that helped them develop solutions to address those problems.
HCD is a research methodology that leverages human experiences, behaviors, and social contexts to create practical solutions for global challenges.
Following this approach, faculty and employees from Illinois, UJ, and SCD collaborated to review relevant literature and design hybrid course that included a thorough explanation of HCD, discussions on modern-day oppression in the United States and South Africa, multimodal content delivery, and frequent assessment and feedback checkpoints.
The course was composed of 15 in-person course sessions that included five online, synchronous, collaborative Zoom sessions between Illinois and UJ students that introduced them to HCD and how HCD tools can be used to resist, address, and resolve various examples of modern-day oppression.
Sophia Gao, a third-year master student studying industrial design at Illinois, signed up for the course after first learning about it from flyers and SCD faculty.
“The topic seemed interesting, and I had no prior knowledge of oppression or modern-day slavery before the course,” she said. “I simply expected to learn more about it and was also curious about how human-centered design could help address these issues.”
But Gao learned more than that and in March 2025 she answered several questions reflecting on her experience. She discussed her initial interpretation of the course, her goals, and what it meant to collaborate with students from UJ.
Did you sign up with any goals in mind? If so, what were they and did you achieve them?
I didn’t have any specific goals in mind at first. But probably at the beginning of the course, after learning more about the curriculum and syllabus, I wanted to better understand the issues and keep up with the content — especially since some of the readings and coursework were challenging. So, I did research, looked up unfamiliar terms, and took notes whenever something wasn’t clear.
What was your initial interpretation of the course and how did that interpretation change upon course completion?
I didn’t have many initial interpretations before taking the course, but I definitely didn’t expect the topic to be this deep and broad. The more I learned, the more issues were revealed. We were certainly challenged to consider whether human-centered design could truly be applied to help address any of these problems.
Overall, tell me about your experience with the course from start to finish. What was it like to take a course like this one and what was it like to collaborate with students from the University of Johannesburg?
The overall experience of the course was great. There were obstacles and ups and downs, but despite being a small class with only three students, we constantly engaged in meaningful discussions and debates on complex, deep topics. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
Working with students from the University of Johannesburg was also a valuable experience. They brought such creativity, ambition, and passion for making change. Collaborating with them and seeing their projects helped us step into their shoes and gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives. It made us respect both them and the topics we were exploring even more, and it inspired us to be more committed to creating meaningful impact.
Tell me about your final group presentation. What did you make or talk about?
We focused on the topic of human trafficking and immigrant labor while also learning various tools from human-centered design. We began by presenting our findings and insights using methods such as Backcasting, How Might We Statements, Mind Mapping, and Prototyping. Through this research, we realized that the issue cannot be solved with a single solution—it requires ongoing, collaborative efforts over time to bring equality to the victims.
For our final presentation, we developed a 75-year timeline divided into three phases: increasing awareness and transparency around immigrant labor, initiating calls to action, and ultimately breaking the imbalance to create equality and freedom. In each phase, we proposed a variety of actions and solutions aimed at achieving the final outcome.
In your own words, what is human centered design? How did the course help you reach this understanding?
Human-centered design is a problem-solving approach that places people at the center of focus. Through various tools and research methods, it helps designers empathize with users and understand their unmet needs and pain points from their perspectives in order to develop effective solutions. I’ve applied HCD in my past design projects, primarily for product or UI/UX solutions. However, this course exposed me to the broader possibilities of HCD. Even when the outcome isn’t a specific product, the approach still enables a deep understanding of the problem and leads to feasible, meaningful solutions for the intended audience.
Based on what you learned in the course, could you explain to me what modern day slavery is? How is it the same or different in the U.S. and South Africa? What did you learn from the course regarding why someone would commit crimes about modern day slavery?
Modern-day slavery is quite different from traditional slavery in terms of form and structure. While there are shared core elements—such as power imbalances, exploitation, and the dehumanization of victims—modern-day slavery is often hidden due to its illegal nature. As a result, many people are unaware of its existence, and in some cases, even the victims don’t realize they are being exploited. This complexity makes it much more difficult to trace and address.
There are also notable differences between modern slavery in the U.S. and South Africa, mainly in how it manifests. One example, presented by a group from the University of Johannesburg, involved churches exploiting people’s religious beliefs to lure them into servitude. In some cases, even the victims’ families were unknowingly complicit in the exploitation.
Referencing the documentary and cases we studied in class, many perpetrators of modern-day slavery are driven by profit and the reputation they build in front of others. Some even fall into the false belief that they are providing opportunities for work and shelter. Often, they don’t view their actions as criminal, and their close circles may not recognize the exploitation either—further complicating efforts to identify and address modern-day slavery.
What was your biggest take-away from the course? In other words, what will you take with you for the rest of your life?
The entire course was a major takeaway—not only in terms of the knowledge we gained about modern-day slavery, but also in the life lessons it offered. One takeaway I’ll carry with me is the importance of maintaining an optimistic mindset and believing that we, or people like us, are capable of making meaningful impacts and creating a better world.
In our group, we had completely different beliefs and mindsets—some of us were more pessimistic, others optimistic; some practical, others visionary and theoretical. Even with just three people, we had many debates and discussions throughout the course. But in the end, we reached a shared understanding: while there are challenges we can’t fix immediately, as long as we stay empathetic and open-minded, and continue to pass on that mindset, knowledge, and common goal, we can achieve greater results through collaboration.
Did collaborating with students from the University of Johannesburg expand your understanding and change your perspective on the world? If yes, in what ways?
Yes, definitely. Collaborating with them gave us the opportunity to learn from their perspectives and understand how they perceive various problems and view the world, along with their lived experiences. We could sense this not only through their presentations and final project outcomes, but also through the class activities. They consistently expressed a strong passion and determination to create change—not just within this project, but in the future as well.
Is there anything else you experienced during this course that you want to mention?
The instructors for this course were incredibly supportive and helpful, both in guiding us through the content and in supporting the design directions we pursued. They played a key role in helping us learn so much, stay on track, and complete the project and the course successfully.
To learn more about the Design Action Hub and other Implementation Grant projects please visit https://publish.illinois.edu/global-strategy/outcomes-stories/implementation-grant-projects/.
Analicia Haynes is the storytelling and social media specialist for Global Communications at Illinois International. She can be reached at ahayn2@illinois.edu.