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I study design practice from the inside, focusing on how designers think, judge, fail, and act ethically, so I can improve design theory, education, and practice.

My research describes design practice as it actually happens—the praxis of design. Indeed, rational (and scientized) models of design tell designers what they should do; my work asks what practitioners actually do, why, and with what consequences. I use qualitative and quantitative methods and draw on design theory from HCI, architecture, and engineering to describe instructional/learning design as a design discipline rather than a procedural one.​

​The purpose is practical. A rigorous account of practice lets design educators prepare practitioners better, lets scholars propose design means that practitioners will actually use, and gives practitioners the language to act as ethical agents of change inside their organizations.

Research Strands

Design judgment, tools, and precedent

How designers choose their means and what tacit judgments drive those choices.

Design ethics

Ethics as something designers do, not a checklist.

Generative AI and emerging technologies

How practitioners respond to GenAI and how XR changes authenticity.

Instructional designers at work

Studies of the profession itself, from COVID-19 to the future of the field.

Editorial Leadership

Managing Executive Editor 

International Journal of Designs for Learning (IJDL) | 2018–present


Interim Chair

AECT Center of Excellence for Publishing | 2026–present; Board Member since 2024


Reviewer

ETR&D, JCHE, TechTrends, JAID, PIQ, OTESSA Journal, and Designing (Design Research Society)

Guest-Edited Special Issues/Sections

Learn more about my: 

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