As part of the AIGA Design Educators Conference at Head, Heart, Hand, Michael Gibson, associate professor of Communication Design and the Graduate Programs Coordinator for Design Research at the University of North Texas, led a rousing workshop entitled “Allowing Human-Centered Narratives to Shape Design Processes=Teaching Design Research.” Gibson shares his materials here for anyone interested in Design Research:
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Gibson’s workshop familiarized participants with select strategic and tactical means for introducing students to the process of gathering and synthesizing the knowledge gleaned from analyzing human experiences. He also presented with information to help participants incorporate learning experiences informed by design research into their curriculums.
Michael Gibson is an associate professor of Communication Design and the Graduate Programs Coordinator for Design Research at the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design.
Gibson works with his colleagues and his graduate students in UNT’s Design Research Center to investigate and sustain design-led, evidence-based research that helps improve real-world situations on behalf of people living in north Texas and beyond. Most of Michael’s research is and has been guided by interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches that involve contributions from diverse individuals and groups, most especially those who will be affected by design processes that have been enacted for their benefit. He and various project partners, many of whom possess scholarly expertise from disciplines outside design, have worked over the course of the last 15 years to confront problems involving children’s health and well-being, primary and secondary education, urban revitalization, support for small businesses and mental health. He has presented and published widely, and his experiences as a design researcher have led him to believe that it should be utilized more widely as a means to confront real problems on behalf of real people living in the real world.