Our Mission

Welcome to the Institute for Human-Centered Design
@ Adaptive Environments!

A new design energy has been building around the world. It's generating products and places that respond to a positive fact of the 21st century: people live longer and survive more than ever before. Call it design for social sustainability, universal or inclusive design - it's about all of us designing a world that works for each of us.

We're bringing the global story to Boston with the first permanent and public hub in the US for exploration, exchange and inspiration about design that works for everyone. It includes a showroom and store.

Adaptive Environments (hereafter ‘AE’) is a 30 year old international non-profit organization, based in Boston, committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities. AE’s work balances expertise in legally required accessibility with promotion of best practices in human-centered or universal design.

AE has been a leading organization in the international Universal Design movement, having hosted or co-hosted five international conferences as well as international student design competitions, smaller regional meetings and publication of web and print materials. The organization is working with the UN on the implementation of the new Treaty on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities that endorses Universal Design as the basis for design guidelines.

Next year, on its 30th anniversary, Adaptive Environments will complete a name change in which the entire organization will be renamed the Institute for Human Centered Design.