HCD Lab at School
A design thinking & innovation curriculum from the Design Innovation Centre (DIC Hub), IIT Hyderabad — taught inside your school.
What it is
A semester-long programme in your school's own lab.
A 5-day workshop, a 3-week mentored project and a jury. It runs every semester, so every student takes part.
What students do
Why it matters
Schools teach answers.
This teaches questions.
Machines can now produce answers faster than any student. What they can't do is notice a problem nobody has named, ask a better question, or build something people actually need. HCD Lab at School trains exactly that. NEP 2020 asks schools for this kind of hands-on, experiential learning.
Think like a designer
People and systems before solutions.
Make like a maker
Colour, form, function, ergonomics — by hand.
Test like a scientist
Every idea is a hypothesis.
Act like an entrepreneur
Turn a tested idea into value.
Why it's different
From a one-off workshop to a school-wide innovation practice.
Proven method
The Design Concepts & Concerns (DCC) framework
Taught in India's leading design and technology institutes for decades, pioneered by Prof. M P Ranjan — combined with Stanford d.school practice.
DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad
Taught and monitored by DIC faculty
Developed with the Design Innovation Centre, whose faculty teach and monitor every cohort.
Policy-aligned
Built for NEP 2020
HCD Institute and DIC are part of the PM SHRI school innovation council.
School students at the design thinking immersion, DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad.
The model
A lab in your school — and a programme to run in it.
Route 01 · Build
A new design lab
No lab yet? DIC provides the know-how — lab design, equipment list and layout. The school funds the equipment and fit-out.
Route 02 · Activate
Your ATL or existing lab
Already have an Atal Tinkering Lab or makerspace? We run the programme there and give it a year-round purpose.
Who does what
Your school provides
- ✓A lab — ATL, existing, or equipment & fit-out for a new one
- ✓Timetable slots each semester
- ✓Students, in cohorts of 30
- ✓Teachers who join the 5-day workshop and co-mentor the project
HCD Institute & DIC provide
- ✓The curriculum and course material
- ✓DIC faculty to teach and monitor
- ✓Lab know-how — design, equipment list, layout
- ✓Mentoring, jury and two certificates
- ✓Teacher development through co-teaching
✎ Teacher commitment: school teachers join the full 5-day workshop and co-mentor the 20-hour project with DIC faculty — building the capability in-house.
The semester
Workshop. Project. Jury.
Every semester, every student.
30
Students per cohort
5 days
Workshop
20 hrs
Project, over 3 weeks
1 jury
Every semester
Week 1
5-day design thinking workshop
Foundations of design — colour, form, function, ergonomics — and the design thinking method. Each team chooses a real problem from its school or community.
Weeks 2–4
Mentored project in the lab
20 hours of guided studio time to research, prototype, test and refine. About 7 hours a week, fitted into the timetable.
Semester-end
Jury
Every team presents and defends its project before a jury.
Optional
Pre-incubation pathway
Selected projects are reviewed by HCD and DIC and may move to pre-incubation with incubators such as IIT incubation labs and NIDBI. Selection is competitive, not guaranteed.
The entrepreneurship thread
Two versions, one method
Upper Primary
Grades 5–8
Hands-on and playful: observing, making and testing around problems in the classroom, home and neighbourhood.
High School
Grades 9–12
Deeper research, systems mapping and a value proposition — with the course book and the pre-incubation pathway.
What students gain
By the end of the semester, students can…
Every student finishes with
A real problem researched → a solution designed → a prototype built → the solution tested → the work presented to a jury
Understand
- •Human-centred design
- •Systems & problem framing
- •Design research
Make
- •Sketch
- •Prototype
- •Build & test
Think
- •Question assumptions
- •Generate alternatives
- •Use evidence
Act
- •Work in teams
- •Present & defend
- •Spot opportunities
Skills: research · systems thinking · ideation · prototyping · teamwork · communication · entrepreneurship
Certification
- ✓A certificate from DIC, IIT Hyderabad
- ✓A certificate from The Institute of Human-Centred Design
- ✓A documented project for the student's portfolio
What the jury assesses
- ✓Research — did they understand people and context?
- ✓Problem framing — is the problem sharp and real?
- ✓Ideation — did they explore alternatives?
- ✓Prototype & testing — what did users teach them?
- ✓Presentation — can they explain and defend it?
The course book
Introduction to Design Thinking and Innovation
An Entrepreneurship Curriculum for Indian High School Students
Deepak John Mathew · Jacinta Bell · Mathew Sebastian
Published by DIC Academic & The Institute of Human-Centred Design · ISBN 978-81-689910-4-0
Every high-school student receives a copy. Grades 5–8 use age-adapted activity material from the same curriculum.
Research-backed: DIC PhD scholars study how design thinking affects students' aptitude over time, feeding India's innovation-curriculum strategy. Data is collected only with parental consent and ethics approval, under India's DPDP Act, 2023.
Who delivers it
Taught by the DIC Hub team.
A school innovation programme by The Institute of Human-Centred Design, developed with the Design Innovation Centre (DIC Hub), IIT Hyderabad.
Dr Deepak John Mathew
Professor, IIT Hyderabad
Nodal Head, DIC Hub
Mathew Sebastian
HCD Coordinator
DIC Outreach & HCD Institute
Marsukola Kranthi Kiran
Researcher, DIC
IIT Hyderabad
International & flagship programmes
Beyond the classroom.
Onto a global stage.
HCD Lab at School students and DIC alumni are invited into the flagship programmes of DIC and HCD Institute — to present their work, meet practitioners and see design and innovation at international scale.
Early Jan 2027
DIC Hub, IIT Hyderabad
Global South Design Summit →
An international gathering of designers, educators and policymakers from across the Global South, hosted at the Design Innovation Centre, IIT Hyderabad.
Early Jan 2027
Cinema · Storytelling
Indian Cinema Panorama
A showcase of Indian cinema and storytelling — where students see how design, narrative and technology come together on screen.
Early Aug 2027
Technology · Innovation
Mobile Congress 2027
Where the future of mobile and digital technology is presented — a chance for students to see products, platforms and start-ups up close.
82
Design Innovation Centres across the nation
In India's leading IITs, NITs and IIMs — a national network students can keep drawing on as DIC alumni.
★ Selected projects travel. Outstanding student projects from the semester jury may be invited to present at these programmes.
Dates are indicative. Participation is by invitation and subject to selection, availability and parental consent.
Bring HCD Lab to your school
One MoU. One year.
A culture of innovation.
Your school gets
- →A working design lab, used every semester
- →A structured, NEP-aligned innovation programme
- →Teachers trained alongside DIC faculty
- →A growing portfolio of student projects
- →A partnership with DIC, IIT Hyderabad
Partnership terms
- →From 100 students per school, in cohorts of 30
- →One programme fee — workshop, project mentoring, materials, course book, jury, certification and lab know-how included
- →Investment shared in the meeting, based on cohort size and lab route
Five steps to launch
01 · Meet
A 30-minute conversation with your leadership team.
02 · Assess
We review your lab or ATL, or plan a new one.
03 · Design
Grades, cohorts and the first semester calendar.
04 · Sign
MoU between the school, HCD Institute and DIC.
05 · Launch
Begin the first cohort and establish the HCD Lab programme.
Questions from school leaders
Start with a 30-minute conversation.
Tell us about your school, your lab and your grades. We'll plan the first semester with you.
Pre-incubation and admission pathways are selective and not guaranteed outcomes of participation.
hcd © 2026 All rights reserved
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions