Decipher 2018: Design Educators Research Conference

We are excited to announce Decipher, a hands-on design research conference brought to you by the AIGA Design Educators Community in partnership with the new DARIA Network (Design as Research in the Americas). The event will address crucial themes of defining, doing, disseminating, supporting, and teaching design research.

• Hosted by the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at University of Michigan, Decipher will:
• Connect emerging and experienced design researchers in academia and beyond
• Gather and share best practices, resources, tools, and exemplary research matter
• Help participants hone research plans and writing skills
• Create opportunities for dialogues that foster mentorship and collaborative connections

Is this conference for me?

YES! Our unique conference format welcomes novices and experts alike, and designers of all stripes. This intimate gathering will reinforce hands-on, person-to-person discussion, collaboration, networking, and professional development. Through activity groups, workshops, and other structured conversational formats, your involvement will help participants to gather ideas, best practices, and other exemplary research-oriented matter. We hope to offer resources, tools, and mentorship to our design communities to strengthen the collective quality of our research.

If you’re excited to roll up your sleeves, offer your ideas, dive into conversation, and synthesize findings, guidelines and best practices to benefit the greater design research community, this conference is for you. If you’re just getting started and are excited to learn more about what design research is all about, this conference is for you. If you want to take a leadership role in the future of design research practice, this conference is for you. If you’re just interested in giving a 20-minute talk and then leaving to explore southeastern Michigan, we strongly encourage you to apply to a different conference.

Themes

Defining design research is concerned with the nature of and knowledge produced by design research: what is design research? What is not design research? What are the types of knowledge design research generates? What is the nature of this knowledge?

Doing design research involves exploring the theories, methods, processes and creative outcomes that support design as a form of inquiry, and how we “do” design research.

Disseminating design research includes the ways we share this work, such as writing about projects or ideas for publication, and how we communicate the value of design research to other disciplines.

Supporting design research is concerned with the resources and procedures to sustain financial support for design research projects and initiatives, including writing successful grant proposals.

Teaching design research cultivates an inquisitive mindset in students at k–12, undergraduate, master’s and PhD levels, and includes sharing methodologies, theories and processes that engage making as a form of knowledge production and understanding.