DNDA Laureates
Don Norman Design Award (DNDA) honors grassroots projects by early-career teams, design trained or not, whose work embodies the core principles of Humanity-Centered Design (HCD+) and shows promise to make a substantial difference to the lives of the communities for which they are intended. The projects must address at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A distinguished international jury evaluates each submission based on the merits and assigns a score accordingly.
DNDA also celebrates exceptional visionaries in education and organizations for their HCD+ training, support and commitment.
The DNDA Awards and recognitions are divided into three distinct categories:
- Projects by Early-Career Practitioners: Projects must embody the core principles of HCD+ and show promise to make a substantial difference to the lives of the communities for which they are intended. The projects must address at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In collaboration with our international advisors and jurors, DNDA first selects a group of Finalist projects. From these, a Shortlist is chosen, and from the Shortlist, DNDA confers its highest project honors: Excellence and Promising.
- Education: This award is given to traditional and non-traditional programs that have demonstrated successful HCD+ training and have graduates doing HCD+ work. Recipients of this award are recognized for their pivotal role in cultivating a new generation of leaders poised to make a positive impact on the societal needs in the United Nations' SDGs.
- Organization: This award is given to organizations that support projects that advance societal well-being. Any officially recognized organization is eligible, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, and private-sector companies, as long as it truly supports societal good, both in its projects and in the company's guiding principles and spirit.
In 2025, we renamed the 2024 category "Special Recognition" to "Organization."
DNDA24 Projects
Excellence
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
DNDA24 Projects
Promising
PROJECT SHORTLIST
New Delhi, India
PROJECT FINALIST
Anne – Communication for DeafBlind People
Nice, France
BioCap: Reducing Atmospheric CO2 by Harnessing the Power of Algae
Bozeman, MT, USA
Circularity Scorecard
London, England, UK
Community-Led Action on Nutrition: to inculcate sustainable nutrition centric behaviors by women leaders
Odisha, India
EasyMed: A drug and food interaction checker providing peace of mind for the elderly with advanced AI
San Diego, CA, USA
Medleg Hub – Empowering young Mongolians to tackle societal challenges
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
EnergizeX – Co-Designing Community-Based Urban Energy Solutions
Milan, Italy
Enhancing Culturally Responsive Pregnancy Care
Boston, MA, USA
The AGRIMAN AGventures campaign uses comics and theater to educate children on food security, environmental conservation, and sustainable agriculture
Siparia, Trinidad and Tobago
Suzhou, China
Bike with Aéro, your city goes green
Vancouver, Canada
Eco-Play Band: Wearable for Kids
Zhengzhou, China
FORK: Food Design for Opportunities, Research and Knowledge
Brussels, Belgium
Largest collection of community contributed bedtime stories to preserve wisdom of generations from various cultures
San Diego, CA, USA
Locus: AR application that helps young adults with ADHD
Bloomington, IN, USA
NextDoor: A Community Driven Storage Solution
Bangalore, India
Peer 2 Peer: Designing for Peer Social Engagement and Social-Emotional Wellbeing of Children with Cerebral Palsy
Manchester, UK
Safety-enrichment of non-standardized rework activities of FMCG manufacturing units working within industrially developing nations
Guwahati, Assam, India
Sharing Power: Codifications and Collective Learnings from Vancouver’s Climate Justice Field School
Vancouver, Canada
SolarSENSE / Solar-powered Soil Sensor
Tempe, AZ, USA
DNDA24 Education
HCD+ Recognition
Buenos Aires, Argentina
London, England, UK
New Orleans, LA, USA
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
EDUCATION FINALIST
Central Saint Martins, Birkbeck MBA. University of the Arts London
London, England, UK
Humanitarian Engineering, University of Twente
Enschede, Netherlands
M.S., Human Factors in Information Design, Bentley University
Waltham, MA, USA
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Trans-disciplinary bachelor’s degree program, D-School, National Taiwan University
Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Bachelor of Popular Music
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Undergraduate Program
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Indiana University’s Comprehensive Design: Human Centered Design at Multiple Scales
Bloomington, IN, USA
Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
InovaHC
