David Aurelio reflects on award that recognizes human-centered designs

The Stanley Caplan User-Center Product Design (UCD) Award recognizes teams that bring human-centered principles to medical, commercial, and consumer products, highlighting excellences in user-centered design. 

David Aurelio, part-time lecturer in the Human Factors Engineering Program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been the award’s lead judge for the past 24 years. In an article titled “25 Years of the Stanley Caplan User-Centered Product Design Award: Origins, Evolution, and Impact,” published in, Ergonomics in Design, Aurelio reflected on the UCD award’s quarter century of recognizing products that put humans first. 

Across two decades, the award has showcased consumer goods, industrial and laboratory equipment, medical and healthcare devices, workplace and commercial systems, and more. Some examples of past winners include train car designs, a cycler dialysis system that automates the function of liquid in the abdomen, and a device that helps premature newborns respirate properly.  

In addition to celebrating past winners, the article gives insight into the award’s judging philosophy, which emphasizes both product design quality and the rigor of the underlying research methods. It also reflects on how judging practices have evolved to account for increasingly complex product ecosystems, broader stakeholder involvement, and real-world design constraints.  

Now administered by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Product Design Technical Group, the UCD Award continues to recognize teams whose work is grounded in real human needs, supported by evidence-based research, and executed with clarity and creativity. 

The article serves both as a historical record and a call to future designers to keep users at the center of innovation. Teams interested in participating in the next award cycle are encouraged to visit UCDaward.com to learn more and submit their work. 

Aurelio has focused his career on user research, user interface design, and usability evaluation. His domains have included consumer products, consumer electronics, medical products, automotive, and software design. Learn more about his work.