The Smithsonian Design Museum Tells the Story of User-Centered Design Through 120 Beautiful Products

"Beautiful Users," a new exhibition at the Smithsonian Design Museum, tells the story of user-centered design through 120 objects. From Dreyfuss' Honeywell thermostat—his archives are housed at the museum—to prosthetic limbs and app-enabled air conditioning units, the products chart this history of designing with respect to human anatomy and behavior, up through the open-source, maker culture we see today. "The phrase 'designing for people' is giving way to 'designing with people' as creative teams seek more egalitarian relationships with an increasingly well-informed public," writes [Ellen] Lupton [senior curator of conteporary design at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum], in the exhibition catalog.