Abstract
This research explores career trajectories in an effort to increase diversity in design. It connects designers to their past by way of visually telling their story, to discover hidden patterns and shared experiences. This research disrupts traditional data collection by leveraging a visual prompting template which has been tested through a series of interactive, hands-on workshops. The template served as a catalyst, encouraging designers to articulate and visually depict their career journeys. This study investigates how designers engaged with this template and the subsequent development of their narratives, in order to solicit deeper connections to their career paths. It scrutinizes the nuances of their responses, revealing the extent to which the template facilitated self-expression, reflection, and communication. It puts the researchers and participants in the position of being creators and connectors simultaneously.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.085
Citation
Hagins, C., Paepcke-Hjeltness, V.,and Bush, B.(2025) Connecting the Dots Through Visuals-Driven Data Collection, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.085
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Visual Submission
Connecting the Dots Through Visuals-Driven Data Collection
This research explores career trajectories in an effort to increase diversity in design. It connects designers to their past by way of visually telling their story, to discover hidden patterns and shared experiences. This research disrupts traditional data collection by leveraging a visual prompting template which has been tested through a series of interactive, hands-on workshops. The template served as a catalyst, encouraging designers to articulate and visually depict their career journeys. This study investigates how designers engaged with this template and the subsequent development of their narratives, in order to solicit deeper connections to their career paths. It scrutinizes the nuances of their responses, revealing the extent to which the template facilitated self-expression, reflection, and communication. It puts the researchers and participants in the position of being creators and connectors simultaneously.