Other Tracks

CONVERSATIONS

Conversations are a 90-minute format to engage a limited number of participants in open exchange in arriving at new understandings about a particular topic. Conversations provide an environment where a constructive dialogue can take place about issues of importance in design research, particularly to promote exchanges about topics not easily captured by a scholarly paper. The overall aim is to have a set of stimulating and provocative sessions that have the potential to identify future questions for the design research community.

You should give a short background to, and description of, the topic that you would like to address. Please make sure that when you submit you have been in touch with all your intended Conveners and that they have agreed to take part in the session (note: this requires conference registration). We expect collaboration amongst Conveners from a diversity of places and institutions.

We welcome proposals focusing on specific topics, objects of design, but also on issues related to methodology and design research quality. We are particularly interested in proposals that bring together diverse perspectives, are experiential in nature, and that will productively challenge our assumptions of what the topics and forms of design research are or could be. DRS2026 is a general design research conference and it is expected that a wide variety of Conversations will be accepted and discussed.

EXPLORATIONS

Explorations is a new stream to DRS2026, fostering and supporting design research and knowledge dissemination beyond traditional paper formats. Formats for exploration sessions may include (but are not limited to) workshops, guided activities, prototyping or prompting engineering sessions, labs, pictorials sessions, as well as performative or immersive experiences—provided they are contained within a maximum duration of 90 minutes.  All Explorations outputs will be catalogued and indexed as part of the DRS Digital Library.

Explorations emphasise experimentation, participation, and shared inquiry in the production of design-based knowledge. The goal is to create an environment where participants can test emerging practices, explore complex issues through methods of construction and performance, and collectively reflect on the knowledge generated through such processes, particularly if that knowledge is mediated, supported and leading to non-textual outcomes.  Explorations will prioritise active engagement and audience participation over passive observation, aiming to surface new approaches, question assumptions, and inspire fresh directions for the design research community to explore knowledge production where experiment and experience meet academic rigour.

PhD HUB

At DRS2026, the PhD community will be supported through a dedicated PhD Hub that will act as fulcrum for a range of thematic strands central to conducting a PhD in design research. These will include both skills and career development in areas such as: practice research, writing, collaboration, publications and outputs, and academic and non-academic careers. Led by a group of PhD researchers and academics, the thematic strands will provide a supportive and open environment in which PhD candidates will be able to share experiences and examples of best practice alongside critical discussion. The PhD Hub will operate throughout the conference, from a central physical location, while thematic strands will take place across the conference programme, each lasting 90 minutes.