Here’s a new way to look at your life: though the eyes of a designer. That’s what Laura E. Kelly did when she began helping her husband, Warren Berger, with his latest book project, Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World.

“No, I didn’t buy funky eyewear or start watching Project Runway,” Kelly explained in a More.com story. “Rather, I learned that the really important thing that designers do is solve problems.” She asked herself what truly makes her happy—and wound up finding a new direction in her career.

In his book, Berger explains how applying design principles can move people toward new areas of knowledge. By design principles, he means concepts such as reexamining our assumptions about why and how we do things the way we do, or determining how to make constant adjustments and refinements to improve products, services, and experiences.

For example, when Van Phillips lost his leg in a waterskiing accident, he began trying to design a prosthetic leg that allowed him to run and play sports. He studied the hind leg of a cheetah (as well as other C-shaped curves) to create The Cheetah, the graphite leg that Olympic-contender Oscar Pistorius used while trying to qualify for the games in Beijing.

And that’s the most exciting part of Glimmer—its glimpses into how such a road can lead us on a path toward meeting people’s true needs instead of contributing “unnecessary stuff” to the world.

The book suggests thinking like a designer can help address social and environmental issues, whether creating devices to transport water to poor countries, or building eco-homes not as part of a fad, but with a meaningful sense of purpose. Or, as one architect said, "Design like you give a damn." Berger also highlights what design principles to abandon, such as manufacturing clothes that employ child laborers or creating ads for products whose frequent use might cause the user’s death. GlimmerSite.com

Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World (Penguin Press, $27.95)