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What is Life Design?

Drawing from the fields of career education, psychology, and design thinking, Life Design is a creative, iterative, human-centered problem-solving methodology that can be applied to navigate change and transition throughout life. 

Here at the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking, our approach to life design is focused on changemaking, the belief that individuals in any position can work toward positive social change. We teach life design as a tool for students to navigate their transition from college to the working world, but life design can be applied to any arena you wish to explore and change in life.

Our life design offerings at Tulane University include the undergraduate courses Taylor Your Tulane (for first-year students) and Taylor Your Life , as well as a 5-week life design workshop series for graduate and doctoral, TYL4Grads. 

If you are an educator interested in bringing Life Design Education to your school, campus, or classroom, we have made our Taylor Your Life Educator Materials free to educators worldwide.  Our life design curricula is created and led by Julia Lang.

Taylor Your Tulane: For First Year College Students

Two students placing post-it notes on a whiteboard.

I came into this semester not having any idea of what I wanted to do and not really informing myself of what I had opportunity to do…now, all my thoughts have become more organized.

I have a sense of where I am going [and that] I was technically the only thing holding me back from a lot of opportunities.

Read about Taylor Your Tulane for First Year Students

Taylor Your Life: For Sophomores, Juniors & Seniors

Taylor Your Life has altered my perception of the job search process intensely and even of life planning in general, outside of the workplace.

The curriculum emphasized the importance of being open to new opportunities and doing what truly speaks to you instead of simply doing what you or other people believe you should do.

Learn about Taylor Your Life for Sophs, Jrs & Srs

Resources for Educators

Interested in bringing Life Design Education to your school, campus, or classroom?

The Taylor Your Life curriculum is free to educators interested in using design thinking to map “changemaking” career tracks.

Life Design Education News

Taylor Impact 2022-2023

Throughout the year the Taylor Team has been working collectively to foster greater social impact and empower changemakers on campus and in the New Orleans community. Check out our annual report. Taylor Impact Report by Tulane Taylor Center

Tulane University Life Design Education Reaching Over 10,000 Students Globally

300 educators have accessed our Life Design materials to use in their school, campus, or classroom, reaching over 10,000 learners worldwide. The open access Taylor Your Life Educator materials were created to support changemaking career development with human-centered design methods…

Graduate Students: How can we help you Design Your Life? Fill out a brief interest form!

Please fill out this brief interest form to help us build our next iteration of TYL4Grads.  Background Based on the popular undergraduate course, Taylor Your Life, TYL4Grads was designed to provide graduate and professional students more clarity and direction of their career paths and…

Life Design Education Program Team Members

Woman smiling wearing earrings in front of trees.

Julia Lang, M.S.

Wendy Leblanc smiles at the camera wearing a blue shirt.

Wendy LeBlanc , MSW

Kayla Smith smiling wearing a black shirt with a gold necklace standing in front of trees.

Kayla Smith

Buckner Headshot

Jada Buckner

Abby Lukens smiling wearing a blue shirt.

Abby Lukens, M.Ed.

Shaina Spector smiling wearing a denim button-up shirt.

Shaina Spector, MS, PLCP, NCC

Image of Taylor Your Life Instructor Sarah Berger

Sarah Berger

An image of Lee Simples-Barnes, a Taylor Your Life Course Instructor

LeShawn Simplis-Barnes, MPA

Image of Liz Langlois, Taylor You Life Instructor

Liz Langlois

Image of Shallene Joseph, Taylor Your life Instructor

Shallene Joseph

Image of Emily Riemer, Taylor Your Life Instructor for the Taylor Center

Emily Riemer

Rosie Yates, Taylor Your Life Instructor

Rosie Yates

Learning from Leaders in Life Design Education

TAYLOR Your Life was created after conducting extensive research in the field on best practices and current trends in innovative career development curriculum creation, including:

We redesigned our curriculum in 2020 to intentionally center diverse voices and create a more equitable and inclusive curriculum. Read more about our curriculum redesign and see an overview of TYL curriculum.

Read About Taylor Your Life

Want to Learn More?

  • Interested in colloboration or dicussing life design?
  • Email Julia Lang at jlang@tulane.edu.
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