In August 2022 we gathered together 30 designers, researchers, students and thinkers, over 5 days to discuss the Design Research approach Research through Design. You can see our full list of attendees on the Jamboree organising website here. The event was supported by the UKRI FLF Development Network.
The overarching question we wanted to ask ourselves and to try and answer was, how do we communicate and share the value of Research through Design with the rest of the world? The motivation to explore this was to try and understand how to help Research through Design break out from the fringes and in to the mainstream.
We covered a vast array of topics and captured all of the week’s insights as ‘nuggets’ of insight which were stored in ‘the hive’ - a room-sized rich picture of the conversations that took place. Here is a short video tour around the hive on the final day of the Jamboree:
Outcomes and Outputs
One of the main things to come from the Jamboree was the collaborations and human connections made at the event. Of course, we are also producing some strategic outputs based on the work we did there:
- Research through Design ‘primer’ materials for various audiences from design undergraduates, senior researchers from any discipline, to professionals outside of research context such as policy-makers
- A ‘5 levels’ style film introducing Research through Design at 5 increasing levels of complexity, inspired by the Wired series.
- A report on the diversity of the Research through Design Community
- A proposal to host the next edition of the Research through Design conference
These outcomes will be published here as they are completed.
Foundations of a Network
The Jamboree event created the conditions to form unique and, we hope, lasting relationships between some leading lights in the world of Research through Design. Along with original research conducted as part of our Lab Engagements series we realised we had an amazing opportunity to establish a new type of Design Research oriented organisation, collective, or network that could form a productive bridge between academic and industry-focused Design Research. Joe had a conversation with Jamboree attendee Julian Bleecker on his Near Future Laboratory Podcast over here.