Research
Cross-cutting methodology and theory courses for designers who want to go deeper than practice, 19 courses across four categories.
Research-depth content is woven throughout all silos, every course has a research tier. These are the dedicated methodology, theory, futures, and dissertation-support courses for designers moving from practitioner to scholar.
R1 · Methodology
Research Philosophy & Paradigms for Design
The assumptions beneath every research method.
Qualitative Research Methods in Design
Depth over breadth, meaning over measurement.
Quantitative & Mixed Methods in Design Research
When design research needs numbers to hold up.
Ethnographic Methods for Designers
Extended, immersive fieldwork inside people's real contexts.
Visual & Photographic Research Methods
Using the camera as a research instrument, not just a documentation tool.
Case Study & Grounded Theory Methods
Building theory from the ground up, or depth from a single case.
Research Ethics & Human Subjects in Design
The obligations that don't disappear because the research is design, not medicine.
Academic Writing for Research
Writing that survives scrutiny, not just reads well.
R2 · Theory & Criticism
History & Theory of Design Thought
The ideas beneath the ideas that shaped the discipline.
Design Criticism & Critical Writing
Writing that evaluates design as seriously as literature or film criticism does.
Semiotics & Meaning in Design
How designed objects come to mean anything at all.
Postcolonial & Indian Design Theory
Design theory that doesn't start from a European default.
R3 · Futures
Design Futures & Speculative Design
Designing artifacts from futures that haven't happened yet.
Foresight & Trend Forecasting for Designers
Systematic methods beat gut feeling for reading what’s coming next.
Emerging Technology & Design
Designing responsibly around technology that is still changing shape.
R4 · Dissertation Support
Thesis Proposal & Research Design
The document that decides whether your thesis is fundable and finishable.
Literature Review Methods
Mapping what's already known before claiming to add to it.
Academic Writing & Publishing for Designers
Getting the thesis chapters into a journal, not just a bound volume.
Viva Voce & Defense Preparation
The last conversation before the thesis is truly finished.
About the Research track
The Research track supports postgraduate and doctoral design students. It is organised into four categories: Methodology, Theory and Criticism, Futures, and Dissertation Support. These cover how to ask a researchable question, choose and justify methods, read and write theory, and finish a thesis.
Design research is often taught informally, which leaves students unsure how a design project differs from a research study. These courses make the differences explicit. They explain paradigms, rigour, ethics and writing standards in the language of design, and they refer to established sources in social science and the humanities.
What you will be able to do
- Write a defensible research question and proposal
- Select and justify qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods
- Read and apply design theory critically
- Plan, write and defend a dissertation
How to study this
Start with Research Philosophy and Paradigms, then take the methods course that matches your question. Use the Dissertation Support courses alongside your own project rather than after it.
Who it is for
Master of Design and PhD candidates, design educators moving into research, and practitioners preparing a publication or a research-based practice.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Research track only for PhD students?
- No. Master of Design students writing a dissertation will find the methodology and writing courses directly useful.
- Do these courses replace my supervisor?
- No. They provide shared vocabulary and structure, but your supervisor and institution set your requirements.
- Are the courses complete?
- Outlines and module lists are published and each course is marked in development until its full content is released.