Indiana University Herron School of Art and Design

Pamela Napier

In the Graduate Design program at Indiana University Herron School of Art and Design, we apply interdisciplinary collaboration, process knowledge and process skills for creative and innovative problem solving. These processes and skills are implemented to not only frame problems in unframed “fuzzy” environments, but also to help to shape and influence society.

Through observation, collaboration and participation with “make-tools,” analysis of research findings and experience prototyping, we engage and enable people to have fundamental value awareness in the systems and processes around them. Doing this work requires designers to develop an intentional understanding of human factors and context as well as specialized interpersonal skills for working collaboratively. Using a creative process and design research, we are able to gain insights into people’s life patterns and behaviors, and the contexts in which they operate. We can then apply those insights to create meaningful experiences that help shape and influence life patterns and behaviors of both organizations and individuals in the community.

I will present case study detail of an innovative generative design research project that I discovered and defined as a first year graduate student. The project focuses on 120 West Market Fresh Grill, a restaurant in Indianapolis that has a philosophy of obtaining their resources from a local agricultural community. The intent is to identify problems and create solutions that address a system of challenges and opportunities. The design challenge is to establish 120 as a value-driven food service by creating experiences that provide education, value awareness and solutions to the system of challenges that restaurant owners and customers face.

Watch the video of this presentation here: http://www.socialstudiesconference.org/node/264