Aaron Kurth is a Lead Design Researcher whose work has spanned the product development spectrum, from generative and exploratory research, to co-creative workshop facilitation, to evaluative studies.
Like many in Design Research, Aaron began his career in a different industry. After beginning his career as a hybrid designer/engineer, Aaron studied Integrated Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University and began his full-time research career. During his career, Aaron has conducted Design Research in industries such as manufacturing, business to business products, financial systems, consumer products, telecommunications, healthcare and industrial systems. Aaron currently leads Design Research projects transforming the agent experience for a large telecommunications provider.
Aaron is also a trained LUMA Institute facilitator and has led workshops in many industries on both digital and physical mediums. He believes in borrowing and melding techniques from other fields such as Service Design, Anthropology, and Industrial Design to enhance his Design Research practice. Aaron is active in the Service Design community, participating and coaching in the DC Service Jam, organizing the Indy Service Jam (postponed due to COVID), actively participating in his local Service Design Network chapter, and presenting at Indy Design Week 2020.
Aaron holds a bachelor’s in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, bachelor’s in Industrial Design from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, a certificate in Medical Device Development from the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN) and a master’s in Integrated Innovation for Products and Services from Carnegie Mellon University.
Design Research
Aaron Kurth, IDSA, is a Senior Research Strategist at Paragon Consulting and Chair of IDSA’s Design Research Section. In 2021, he held engaging virtual events for the design research community, including “Working with Questions” with Francine Gemperle, “Mental Models” with Andrew Maier, and “Ask Me Anything” with Steve Portigal.
“In 2021 I was motivated and inspired by the increased flexibility and digitization of our research toolset,” Aaron says. “We have shifted to working in a remote world and that has already had a major impact on how we work.” Through virtual events, Aaron was able to invite designers from around the world to discuss and learn more about these monumental shifts in the design research community, sparking much-needed conversations and providing glimpses into what may be coming next.
“I am excited and inspired to see what the next generation of research capture and analysis tools and techniques will look like,” he continues. “It is our responsibility as researchers to push forward and explore ways to maximize our rich data sets in each project while telling the most human-centered, authentic, yet simple story at the end of the project.”
When Aaron considers the Design Research Section in 2022, he sees a world of possibility. “We are still looking to explore the fundamentals of research and share with Section members ways to enhance their day-to-day research skills for both research specialists and designers,” he shares. “We also want to explore the growing world of tools that are being created to enhance research. From transcription tools to data analysis and visualization, research as we know it will be making big leaps forward that will allow researchers to gather, manage, analyze, and synthesize more data. This will create more impactful insights and more contextual stories to inspire design.”
