Approach

Each apprentice commits to a single real problem and stays with it. We don’t run a sequence of projects. The work deepens over years, and every stage builds on the one before.

Real problems are found in the world, not invented at a desk. Apprentices begin by understanding a community and its needs firsthand, guided by human-centered and humanity-centered design: who is affected, what has been tried, and what would actually help.

Because open-ended work can easily turn into wandering, apprentices follow a structured sequence derived from the Double Diamond design method:

• See. Study the problem and assemble a dossier on it.
• Understand. Defend that understanding, secure a committed partner, and run an early test.
• Field season. A summer working on the problem in the apprentice’s own community.
• Make. Build the solution.
• Deliver. Reach an external milestone and defend the work in a capstone.

Each stage ends in a review. Apprentices who don’t meet the standard get one chance to revise.

There are no classes and no lectures. Each apprentice has a monthly design review with Professor Wang and meets regularly with an associate in between to prepare and keep moving.

The apprentice owns the work: the problem, the partnerships, and the decisions. Families provide support, and the Institute provides coaching, standards and accountability.

A project is finished only when it can continue without the apprentice, whether through a partner who carries it forward, a tool in real use, or an organization built to sustain it.