Design Research + Integration

Catalog description

Great design starts with understanding people. This course teaches you how to uncover what people actually need—not just what they say they want. You'll learn research methods that reveal how people interact with design in their daily lives, from observing behavior patterns to conducting interviews that go beneath surface-level responses and uncover how these insights directly fuel creative making. Through hands-on projects, you'll gather detailed data, analyze findings, and translate insights into design directions that actually work. We'll also examine how research has exposed both the brilliance and failures of influential design—because understanding what went wrong is just as valuable as celebrating what went right. By the end, you'll approach design with evidence rather than assumptions, creating solutions that are grounded in real human experiences.