Proposal Update
Since last week, the decision was made to collaborate with Mari Nakano. Opportunities came our way this past week that sparked new ideas on how we were going to approach the topic of design research. We looked into an upcoming AIGA conference called Social Studies Educating Designers in a Connected World and saw both their call for proposals to speak on an MFA panel about the going-ons of our graduate program as well as their call for workshop proposals.
We discussed how this conference was a good way to give us focus and direction. Until we saw the call for workshop proposals, we were thinking that writing an academic paper or developing a website were the only ways to convey our understanding of design research. We both felt strongly about the idea of developing a workshop about design research and thinking, so we agreed to take on the challenge.
About the Workshop Proposal
We believe that a workshop is an alternative way to present the ideas of design research. Unlike academic papers or one-way presentations, a workshop is more inviting and can provide an interactive, hands-on way of understanding a basic overview of the design research process.
Our workshop will be geared towards an audience who has an interest in integrating design research methods into current practices. It’s meant for those who are mildly familiar with design research but may be timid to utilize its affordances.
Our idea is to spend the term researching and developing a workshop that will cover three main ideas:
1) WHY: Why design research? How can it be beneficial? What’s the “in?”
2) HOW: What methods do we use to conduct design research? What do we have to consider?
3) and then WHAT? What happens to the research that is conducted? Where does it go? What new questions emerge and what are our reflections?
We started thinking about the affordances of conducting a workshop. Here are some of our earliest thoughts:
- it’s hands-on and interactive
- it can attract people from different fields
- it allows us to gauge what people think about design research
- creates a space for networking
- it’s inviting and not intimidating
- can be a space to provide the latest resources
- it is a space that allows discussion and direct interaction with others
- it can evolve with the times and change according to the audience/ context
The Ideal Goal
Mari and I have committed to submitting a workshop proposal to the AIGA Social Studies Educating Designers in a Connected World conference. The proposal is due July 15, 2008. If we are accepted, we will attend the conference in mid-October. If we are not accepted, we will still develop the workshop and attempt to conduct it on campus. In the meantime, we will be researching and compiling data to justify and strengthen the workshop curriculum, as well as create iterations that will hopefully lead to a streamlined system of its deliverance. It is our greater goal to develop a workshop 1) that we can conduct several times and 2) that gives us the flexibility to evolve it as well as customize it for specific audiences.
We Are Being Cautious
Before we agreed to develop a workshop, we both realized that as we research and nurture the workshop curriculum we must remain cautious that 1) we don’t disseminate the wrong idea about design research and 2) that we don’t lead people to think that design research is an easy thing to do. Rather, we want to create an environment that stimulates the interest of an ever-growing audience of new thinkers, educators and researchers in an inviting and inspiring way that builds a desire in people to delve further in design research methods and philosophies.
