Bridging Human-Centered Design and Science: An Innovation Curriculum Challenge for Doctoral Education

BACKGROUND: The next generation of PhD-prepared nurses must be forward-thinking and equipped to solve existing and emerging health care problems requiring educators to reimagine curricula to surpass conventional scientific methods. PROBLEM: Limited guidance exists on effectively integrating human-centered design (HCD) with scientific methods in doctoral education. APPROACH: Grounded in a learner-centered paradigm, faculty developed a doctoral-level innovation and intervention course that blended HCD with traditional research methodologies. This article explores the course's philosophical approach, design and implementation, highlighting challenges as well as areas of convergence and divergence between the 2 approaches. Emphasis is placed on how these dynamics shaped teaching strategies and student learning. OUTCOME: A pedagogical model emerged structured around the 3 integrated domains of the course: design thinking, philosophical and theoretical frameworks, and complementary research methods. CONCLUSIONS: The model supports the development of adaptive nurse scientists equipped to engage with complex health care problems through iterative, stakeholder-informed inquiry.