Design researcher & educator

design research

1. 

   Knowledge self-management in design research

   Abstract: What is the difference between knowledge and consciousness, and why does it matter for design? This lecture examines knowledge as a product of consciousness, emphasizing that while knowledge organizes what is already known, consciousness enables the creation of the new. Using examples like ChatGPT—an entity rich in knowledge but devoid of consciousness—it critiques traditional […] - Feb 9, 2025
2. 

   Fall 2024 (Design) Research and Practice

   Research and Practice (Fall 2024) is a 45-hour course at the University of Florida that immerses Design and Visual Communications (MXD) graduate students in the practice of doing design research. Students explore qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods through discussions, case studies, writing, fieldwork, and presentations. My approach emphasizes participatory and critical learning, treating students as design researchers rather than […] - Dec 4, 2024
3. 

   Democratic design experiments

   Democratic design experiments, as explored by Binder, Brandt, Ehn, and Halse (2015), are participatory processes that bridge the boundaries between “parliamentary” and “laboratory” practices. These experiments bring people together to explore and discuss the controversies around a thing or a matter of concern. Instead of aiming at creating products or solving problems, these experiments turn design […] - Dec 4, 2024
4. 

   The life cycle of a design research object

   Abstract: What is design research? How does it differ from design activity? Consider this distinction regarding the activity’s object. Design activity may be an object of design research in research about design. Yet, in research through design, the research object is shared with another activity, for example, another science. Drawing from personal experiences in hospital […] - Nov 4, 2024
5. 

   Tips and tricks for writing design research

   Why are design researchers not so excited about reading and writing if that is an integral aspect of doing design research? In my view, designers are typically exploited in so miany ways, primarily for cheap labor. They are not expected to say anything, just give form to previously defined functions and content. In a critical […] - Sep 23, 2024
6. 

   Designing for Liberation experimental research program

   Abstract: Designing for Liberation is a design research program investigating the possibility of designing for the liberation of historically oppressed people. Instead of designing for privilege like modern design typically has done, we seek designing for rights. Everyone has the right to have good designs, even if that design is a self-built Favela. This lecture […] - Sep 17, 2024
7. 

   Existential crises in doctoral design research

   Every doctoral design researcher must go through the existential crisis of not knowing for a while if that daunting research actually makes any difference in the world. After going through that and reflecting on my trajectory, I concluded that this crisis, and many others that doctoral design researchers face, is not personal or individual. These […] - Jun 21, 2024
8. 

   Prospective design: A structuralist design aesthetic founded on relational qualities

   Botter, F., van Amstel, F. M. C., Mazzarotto Filho, M., and Guimarães, C. (2024) Prospective design: A structuralist design aesthetic founded on relational qualities, in Gray, C., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.883 - Jun 17, 2024
9. 

   Why I became a transdisciplinary design researcher

   Abstract: Twenty years of designing and researching across several disciplines led me to realize that transdisciplinarity is not the same as combining knowledge from different fields. Transdisciplinary design research means moving from one discipline to another to follow an expansive object. This is a reflection I presented as my first lecture in the MXD program […] - Apr 2, 2024
10. 

    Wicked rituals of contemporary design thinking

    Saito, Carmem; Van Amstel, Frederick M. C.; Serpa, Bibiana O; Angelon, Rafaela. Wicked rituals of contemporary design thinking. (2023). In: Mehl, Johanna and Höfler, Carolin (Eds). Attending [to] Futures. Matters of Politics in Design Education, Research, Practice. Hamburg: Adocs. p. 150-161. http://doi.org/10.53198/9783943253726 - Dec 11, 2023
11. 

    Designing between the possible and the impossible

    Abstract: The possible is relatively constituted to what is meant to be impossible. Whenever someone does something formerly known to be impossible, the possible expands, and a new frontier appears. Expanding this box is not trivial, though. Contradictions binding the dos and don’ts demotivate any naïve attempt to design at the border. Expansive design is […] - Oct 21, 2023
12. 

    The Struggle for Human Rights in Design

    Abstract: Human Rights are rarely discussed in Design, possibly because regulatory work is mostly seen as a border topic or outside the scope. However, Human Rights are not just about Law but also about Ethics, Morality, and Politics, growing topics in the design research agenda. The struggle for Human Rights is now a big thing […] - Oct 10, 2023
13. 

    Decolonizing design research

    Van Amstel, F. M. C. (2023). Decolonizing design research. In: Rodgers, Paul A. and Yee, Joyce (Eds). The Routledge Companion to Design Research (pp. 64-74). Routledge. https://www.doi.org/10.4324/9781003182443-7 - Jun 25, 2023
14. 

    Design, Oppression, and Liberation 2

    Van Amstel, F. M. C., Gonzatto, R. F., & Noel, L.-A. (2023). Introduction to Diseña 22: Design, Oppression, and Liberation (2nd issue). Diseña, (22), Intro. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.22.Intro - Feb 13, 2023
15. 

    Prospective Design: a research agenda for design interventions in sociotechnical systems

    Van Amstel, Frederick M.C.; Botter, Fernanda; Guimarães, Cayley. Design Prospectivo: uma agenda de pesquisa para intervenção projetual em sistemas sociotécnicos. Estudos em Design, 30 (2), 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35522/eed.v30i2.1458 - Aug 30, 2022
16. 

    Coming to terms with design wickedness: Reflections from a forum theatre on design thinking

    Saito, C., Serpa, B.O., Angelon, R., and van Amstel, F. (2022) Coming to terms with design wickedness: Reflections from a forum theatre on design thinking, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June – 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.668 - Jun 21, 2022
17. 

    Decolonizing Design Research towards the Pluriverse

    Keynote, VIII Sustainable Design Symposium, UFPR, 2021. Abstract: Design research has historical roots in the modernity project, which violently subsumes non-modern diverse cultures into colonized monocultures. Design research is also well-grounded in the development discourse that justifies unequal exchanges between nations, institutions, and communities. However, design research is also a realm of dispute where critical […] - Apr 13, 2022
18. 

    Investigar-crear para la liberación

    Esta charla és una reflexión acerca de mi condición existencial de investigador del diseño en un país subdesarrollado que no prioriza la ciencia para su desarrollo. En la condición de subdesarrollo, el investigador debe identificarse con la gente y con la gente crear proyectos de investigación libertadores. Así, se puede detener a los problemas locales […] - Oct 28, 2021
19. 

    Research Methodology

    Research Methodology is a 30 hours course from the Graphic Design bachelor at UTFPR. It is an introduction to scientific, academic, and design research, with the proper distinctions. After this course, students are ready to think about the research they want to conduct in their final work. My approach to this course becomes quite unusual […] - May 10, 2020
20. 

    What is a contradiction and why it is relevant to design research?

    Design research is increasingly concerned with being part of change processes in everyday life, in communities, in organizations, and in large-scale sociotechnical systems. Despite the growing interest, the field is not prepared to deal with this topic. The predominant theories in design research were crafted to understand individuals interacting with products, or groups of people […] - Apr 21, 2020

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