John Payne

John Payne is a prominent figure in the human-centered design and design research community with a career spanning over two decades.

Currently, he serves as the Head of Design at Public Policy Lab, a non-profit organization focused on service design and government innovation to improve public services for low-income and disadvantaged Americans.

In addition to his role at Public Policy Lab, John teaches at the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech, where he explores a Post-Human-Centered Design approach and offers courses on Responsible Design with Emerging Technology, Social Impact of Scalable Digital Services, and Designing for the Public Interest.

Prior to his current positions, John co-founded Moment, a pioneering digital product design firm, and later served as Verizon's Head of Service Design + AI, enhancing customer experiences for Verizon users nationwide.

An accomplished speaker and conference organizer, John has led prestigious design conferences and taught design research and methodology at universities like Parsons, NYU, SCAD, Pratt, and Princeton. He continues to contribute as a board advisor at Auburn University's College of Architecture, Design, and Construction.

His educational background includes a Master of Design from the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech, post-graduate studies in Design Writing, Research, and Criticism from the School of Visual Arts, and a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Auburn University.