Learning How to Learn: Get Unstuck as a Professional Design Researcher

This three-part workshop is our intervention to help design researchers learn how to learn and overcome a variety of professional constraints in our field. We’ll share lessons from our AIGA article and podcast on “Why the Design Research Profession is Stuck” and show you how to use an experiential learning framework (similar to learning-by-doing). The workshop will explore a series of topics: 

• Session 1 (May 8, 2024 at 3 PM ET | 12 PM PT): Intentional professional development and learning how to learn
• Session 2 (May 22, 2024 at 3 PM ET | 12 PM PT): Practices and tensions in community-engaged work
• Session 3 (June 5, 2024 at 3 PM ET | 12 PM PT): Growing our careers in a private field

Participants who join from start to finish can expect to come away with skills and strategies for ongoing education at all levels:

• Learning with peers and colleagues,
• Learning after each major engagement or project,
• Learning across other professions and disciplines.

Everyone who registers will also get access to

• Open office hours between workshops, 
• A shared resource database with tools and materials, 
• Access to an AIGA-supported community interested, and 
• A group of peers committed to inquiry!

There is no obligation to attend all three sessions, but because each session builds on the last, the workshop is more valuable and enjoyable as a series.

This workshop is led by Danny Spitzberg and Humphrey Obuobi, two design researchers based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Danny has a background in cooperative development, economic sociology, and algorithmic audits. Humphrey has a background in participatory policy design, community organizing (e.g., for Black reparations), and social impact technology. Both Danny and Humphrey are interested in building a field that supports individual and collective learning and growth.