Stan visited the Masters of Design program at the National University of Colombia from Nov 13-17, 2017 to present a public talk and two workshops.

The first workshop was for graduate students and the other for people involved in research with communities. Both explored the use of experimental prototypes for gathering data in design research, using Dator’s 4 possible futures: growth, discipline, collapse, and transformation.

From the public talk:

This discussion will focus on the topic of validity in research, and in particular how different research results in design can be evaluated, given that design research may concern itself with the past and present, some preferred future, or the transition period from the present to that future.

The premise is that the same standards of validity that are applicable in the sciences and the humanities, which focus on studying the past and present, are not entirely transferable to the situation in design or other generative disciplines such as engineering and computer science.

We will examine a number of published design research projects from this perspective, drawing on interdisciplinary work with the sciences (the pill browser), the fine arts (the simulated environment for theatre), and the digital humanities (speculative timelines). We will also look at projects that represent collaborations with industry (decision support) and community members (bubblelines machine).