Conference Agenda

Embodiment, affect, and symbolic modelling remain underexplored dimensions of designerly identity formation, despite its recognition as a central outcome of design education. While existing research emphasizes cognitive-skill acquisition, little is known about how studio instructors shape identity through aesthetic, relational, and performative means. This study examines the influence of instructors within the socio-aesthetic ecology of the design studio. Using abductive thematic analysis of focus group interviews with teaching assistants across architecture, industrial design, interior design, and fashion design, the study highlights shared cross-disciplinary patterns across international contexts. Findings reveal that instructors shape designerly becoming not only through teaching but also through aesthetic modelling, emotional attunement, and embodied presence. Students internalize designerly ways of being through symbolic cues, language, and spatial rituals. Identity formation thus emerges as both epistemic and ontological, reframing design education as a site of embodied transformation.

As the central platform of design education, interior design studios function as dynamic learning environments that advance creativity and sensitivity to the social and spatial dimensions of design. Although the experiential qualities of space are conceptually acknowledged within studio pedagogy, the notion of ‘interiority’ remains unstudied compared to the emphasis placed on technical requirements. This paper positions interiority as a critical yet underexplored component of interior design pedagogy. Through a literature mapping and thematic synthesis, this paper defines five core dimensions of interiority as (1) spatial, (2) sensory, (3) affective, (4) identity-related, and (5) temporal, then correlates these dimensions in terms of their relevance and potential inclusion to the sequential stages of studio process. Mapping these intersections, the paper opens a reflective discussion on the pedagogical value of interiority within project-based learning, and argues for its broader consideration in contemporary interior design education.

Quintessential products, forms widely perceived as typical examples of their category, are embedded in everyday life, yet their influence on product design ideation remains largely unexplored. This study investigates if and how such products can affect inspiration in the creative process of students and suggests approaches on how to address fixation, should it arise from the quintessential stimuli. Through a multi-modal case study with design students working on product development briefs, the research captures both self-reported and observed data to reveal patterns in creative decision-making. The findings indicate that quintessence is not particularly perceived as highly inspirational; however, there might be an opportunity to employ it in education as purposeful stimuli for helping students overcome creative challenges in convergent stages. This research offers insights into the design inspiration and education literature, offering perspectives on the cognitive processes relating to innovation.

This study proposes a cognitive framework for design thinking education that translates expert-derived strategies into systematic, classroom-ready moves. Drawing on in-depth interviews with experienced design thinking educators in higher education, a reflective thematic analysis surfaced seven themes and sixteen persuasive strategies from teaching practices developed through university-level design thinking workshops and courses: simplifying processes, bridging gaps, constructing repetitive experiences, providing contextual empowerment, adding evaluation criteria, changing perspectives, and introducing breakthroughs. Three teaching mindsets anchor these strategies: lowering the entry threshold, expanding engagement with complex, public-facing issues, and foregrounding authentic, first-hand experience. Integrating these strategies with pedagogical content knowledge supports plural pedagogies and situated learning across diverse settings. The resulting framework enables educators to design transformative learning environments within design education, positioning learners and partners to respond more effectively to the challenges of the VUCA era.

This paper reports on the evaluation of a funded teaching initiative for two undergraduate studios, one architecture and one landscape architecture, within an Australia-based design school. The initiative funded the expansion of a virtual site visit, as well as production of detailed digital and physical models. This suite of resources was meant to reduce demand on students related to searching for contextual and historical background, thus allowing them to grapple with the site’s complexities in a deeper fashion than they might otherwise. Students reported satisfaction across a range of criteria, including engagement, interaction, and feedback. Teaching staff reported more sustained and sophisticated site engagement compared to previous years, with place-based learning resources effectively complementing in-person visits to the site. This study contributes to recent scholarship on site-based learning in built environment disciplines, specifically in the blended, post-pandemic context, in which the interplay between technology and design is fundamental.

Bodystorming is a design method for generating new insights and ideas for service improvement through improvised, embodied roleplay. However, it is not easy to learn how to use bodystorming as a generative method. Guidance for learning focuses on how to engage in embodied social-technical interactions, but it does not specify clear goals for wanting to do so. In a case study of an out-of-hours primary care service we explored how goal setting can stimulate novice users to use bodystorming to generate insights and ideas. Over three iterations of bodystorming, a group of novice bodystormers focused on goals that they derived from the service design literature, and from weekly feedback of service workers and a user of the service in the case. The study demonstrates how goal setting informs the generative use of bodystorming, and as such can provide additional guidance to novice bodystormers.