Quick Glance

• Coordinates the Design Thinking Minor
• Researches the designer's mindset and how it is used in value-based decision making
• Designer of the Recursive Design Framework, used to teach students how to work through the design process
• Producer and Host of the Thinking through Design podcast
• Interests include creativity, play, ambiguity and risk taking in both formal (workplace) and informal (parks and public space) settings
• Lectures in the College of Nursing (Master of Healthcare Innovation program)

Current CV [pdf] • Google Scholar • Research Gate

Adam Fromme is an educator and designer. He currently serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State.

Adam's research aim is to increase the role of design within the workplace, believing that design skills are necessary to everyone. He sees the increasing demand for curious critical thinkers and seeks to equip those who can influence workplace decisions with a designer's mindset.

Following a decade in professional practice, his interests in corporate branding, environmental graphics, retail, hospitality, and healthcare design all began to converge. And his work narrowed on how public spaces address essential needs as healthy-supportive environments. Adam was driven to understand people's experiences in the shared spaces and how those design decisions were made. This work motivated his graduate research thesis, Co-designing with Older Adults to Create an Age-friendly Evaluation Tool for Public Places. Work on the underlying framework of this research continues today.

Adam joined Ohio State as a Lecturer in 2014 and was appointed as a full-time faculty member in 2022. Today, his work focuses on teaching people how to approach and solve novel problems using a designer's mindset. This mindset focuses attention and foments confidence in value-based decision-making, while also leveraging creativity, play, ambiguity and risk taking. Because design is used to solve complexity, it too can feel complex—and confusing and overwhelming. One of the tools he developed to offset these feelings is the Recursive Design Framework. This teaching tool empowers students to know how to move across wicked problems. 

He studies how individuals, teams and organizations utilize this mindset to add value and improve quality. His research extends beyond the classroom. Adam hosts the Thinking through Design podcast (available on Apple Podcasts). Each episode brings to light how designers think through their problems. And in 2021 he began working with companies to train employees on creativity, participatory design and design thinking. He co-developed the Innovation Experience Program, a 6-month program providing office teams a way to incorporate creative problem-solving methods in the workplace. He also writes about design. Some of his work can be found on Medium, and he is a guest writer for the design blog Brand New.

Service and Leadership

• University: Member of the Council on Student Affairs, University Senate subcommittee
• Department: Communications and Visual Identity Committee (Chair)
• Department: Undergraduate Studies Committee
• Department: Exhibition and Events Committee

Selected Publications

• Fromme, A. "Beyond the Basics: A Normative Design Framework for Teaching the Design Process" AIGA Design Educators Community Conference: Weave. Normal, IL. 12–13 June, 2025.
• Winegardner, Z.; Fromme, A. "Design Education Model to Support Student Outcomes” AMPS Research Conference: Learn. Life. Work. San Fransisco, CA. 10–12 June 2024.
• Fromme, A. "Goldilocks and three other stories about Design Thinking-and how being creative can change how you do what you do." Big Ten Development Conference. Columbus, OH. 8-10 August 2022.
• Fromme, A. "Student Mental Health and the Design Curriculum: Student-led Solutions for Creating a Culture of Care" Design Principles and Practices (DPP) Sixteenth International Conference: Back to Life: Seeking Vision and Purpose in Principles and Practice. Newcastle, Australia. 19-21 January 2022.
• Proulx, S., Fromme, A. et al. "Rethinking User Experience of Parking Garage. Exploring Innovative Suicide Prevention Strategies Through Motivational Design." Di Lucchio, L, & Imbesi, L. (Eds.) Proceedings of the Design Culture(s), 2020 Cumulus Conference. Rome: Sapienza University. Link to Paper (see, Volume #2, Design of Culture: Proximity Chapter, pages 3014-3030)
• Fromme, A. "The Four Pillars of Age-friendly Design" Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging (SE4A) Annual Conference. Louisville, KY. 30 September-3 October 2018.
• Bell, E.; Bryan, M.; Eyink, K.; Fromme, A. and Matheney, R.. "Engage Place to Engage People" 7th Annual Innovate Conference: Forward. Columbus, Ohio. 11 May 2018.
• Fromme, A. "How to Use Universal Principles to Support Older Adults in Public Places" Universal Design Summit 6- Inclusive Communities: Housing and Public Spaces. St. Louis, MO. 13-14 November 2017.
• Fromme, A. and Chan, P... "Driving Home Design Research: A Collaborative Design Case Study for Developing Positive Parking Experience on a University Campus" International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) Conference-re: research. Cincinnati, OH. 31 October-3 November 2017.
• Fromme, A. "Why Motivations Matter More than Measurements: How Design Thinking Can Inform Future Experiences for an Aging Population" 2017 Society for the Study of Human Biology (SSHB) joint meeting with the International Association of Physiological Anthropology (IAPA) Symposium: Human Biology of Climate Change. Loughborough, UK. 12-15 September 2017.
• Fromme, A.; Alexander, G.; Allen, C.; Moore M.; Roth, B.; Willard, J.; Ardiyanto; and Shah, T.. (2017). How to Start a Conversation on Driving, Mobility, and Aging. (Self-published)
• Fromme, A. and Haase, J. "Exploring the Next Urban Condition," 12th European Academy of Design Conference-Design for Next. Rome, Italy. 12-14 April 2017.