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Research Strategies in Design | DES 725
University of Wisconsin–Stout Research Strategies in Design is an MFA-level seminar course providing an overview of research practices in the major design disciplines. This class presents a variety of tools for collecting data and managing ambiguity at the front end of the design process, learning the process of gathering insights, and translating those insights into creative direction. Class covers standard design research methods: secondary research, human, end-user, and participatory-centered methods, ethnographic, qualitative, and quantitative methods, and trending and emerging methods, philosophies, and tools.
Primary Text
Sanders, E.B.-N and Stappers, P.J. (2012) Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design, BIS Publishers, NL. Guest Speaker Series
The class has been supported by a series of guest speakers from industry practice. Speakers have come from positions at Adobe, Code42, Zebra Technologies, The Nerdery, The Bernard Group, Nationwide Children's Hospital Research Institute, Applied Research Associates, CoGrowLab, and Microsoft, as well as ethicist Elizabeth Buchanan, PhD. |
RELATED PRESSGraduate students propose design solutions for local museum
UW–Stout News Bureau, June 22, 2020 Chippewa Valley Herald | Eau Claire Leader-Telegram Design class looks into outdoor museum on blue-green algae awareness
UW–Stout News Bureau, June 13, 2018 WPR / Spectrum West interview
Wisconsin Public Radio, June 21, 2018 RELATED PUBLICATIONSWigdahl, Matthew. “Lake Menomin Project: Exploring an Outdoor Museum Piece Using Design Research Techniques,” proceedings from DECIPHER: 2018, AIGA Design Educators Research Conference, Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan.
Decipher, vol. 2, pp. 106–107, December, 2019 [link] peer-reviewed Evensen, Erik A. ”Design Research in a Polytechnic Setting: Leveraging polytechnic research initiatives as thematic content in a graduate design research class,”
Polytechnic Summit 2019: Shaping the Future of Polytechnic Education, University of Wisconsin–Stout, Menomonie, WI. June 3, 2019. peer-reviewed |
SELECTED STUDENT OUTCOMES
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Short film, "TILL" (2018)
Dharshana Gopalakrishnan, Drew Hagen, Shane Sanders, Jonathan Wheeler, Wu Liang TILL was produced as a way to visualize research on the needs of regional farmers. Following the method of Design Documentary, as coined by design researcher Dr. Bas Raijmakers, the film provides a background on the algal problems affecting the Red Cedar River watershed through interviews and anecdotal information gathering. The posters below outline the research process.
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RESEARCH TEAM: Dharshana Gopalakrishnan, Drew Hagen, Shane Sanders, Jonathan Wheeler, Wu Liang
RESEARCH TEAM: Morgan Brantner, Amanda Harder, Terri Stan, Matt Wigdahl
This project was adapted as a conference poster
Lake Menomin Project: Exploring an Outdoor Museum Piece Using Design Research Techniques Wigdahl, Matthew. DECIPHER: 2018, AIGA Design Educators Research Conference. Published in AIGA Decipher, vol. 2, pp. 106–107, December, 2019 [link] peer-reviewed |
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