ASID and University of Minnesota Launch Revolutionary Web Site, InformeDesign

Furniture World Magazine

Groundbreaking Web site provides research on connection between design and human behavior The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the University of Minnesota today formally launched InformeDesign, the first centralized clearinghouse of design and human behavior research on the Web. The URL for the Web site is www.informedesign.umn.edu. “The launch of InformeDesign is truly a monumental achievement for ASID, the University of Minnesota, the interior design profession and the entire design community,” said ASID President H. Don Bowden, FASID, AIA. “For the first time in one location, practitioners, students, educators, researchers, industry representatives, other professionals who design the built environment and the public will have access to the tremendous wealth of research on the inextricable link between design and human behavior. “The information available on the InformeDesign Web site will not only help designers create functional and responsible interiors, but, even more significantly, the increased application of research-based design will advance the interior design profession,” Bowden continued. The InformeDesign Web site was created and will be maintained by a team of researchers at the Department of Design, Housing and Apparel at the University of Minnesota, led by Director Caren Martin, Ph.D., and Coordinator Denise Guerin, Ph.D. The impetus for InformeDesign was to create a device to facilitate design professionals’ use of research as a decision-making tool in the design process, thereby improving the overall quality of design solutions to protect and enhance the public’s health, safety and welfare. “With my background as a practitioner, I can attest to the immediate and crucial need for InformeDesign,” Martin said. “InformeDesign affords accessibility to empirically based research to provide designers with a clearer understanding of the impact of school size on learning, issues facing baby boomers who wish to age in place or the effect of privacy on workplace productivity. InformeDesign also presents housing policymakers, code officials, hospital administrators and others a resource for human behavior findings that must be considered in their work.” InformeDesign currently contains more than 240 “practitioner-friendly” research summaries of findings transformed from a wide variety of academic journals on design and human behavior. An additional 500 research summaries will be added to the Web site each year. Visitors to InformeDesign can access the research summaries by performing simple, keyword searches or by reviewing the research summaries listed under three major categories: “Space,” “Issues” and “Occupants.” All services on the InformeDesign Web site are available at no cost to visitors. In addition to the searchable database of research summaries, the site features online discussion forums, listings of collaborative research opportunities, a calendar of research-related events and a glossary of terms. Implications, a monthly newsletter, will begin within the month, and other services and products are planned. The Web site is interactive, allowing visitors to provide comments about specific research summaries or other site issues, or to query the InformeDesign staff about individual research needs. The founding contributors to InformeDesign are Armstrong World Industries, Inc., the Carpet and Rug Institute, Sherwin-Williams Company, and Vista“ Window Film. “Without the financial support of these companies and organizations, the launch of InformeDesign would not have been possible,” Bowden said. “ASID would like to extend our gratitude to each of the founding contributors for helping to establish InformeDesign as an innovative source of vital research information accessible to all members of the design community to the benefit of their clients and the inhabitants of the spaces.” ASID still seeks additional visionary manufacturers, architecture or design firms, or companies as contributors to InformeDesign. Interested entities may contact ASID Industry Partners at (202) 546-3480 to learn more about the many benefits of becoming an InformeDesign contributor. ASID is the largest professional association representing the interests of interior designers. Its mission is to advance the interior design profession through knowledge generation and sharing, advocacy of interior designers’ right to practice, professional and public education, and expansion of interior design markets. The Society supports its more than 33,500 members – comprised of practicing interior designers from all design specialties, design students and industry representatives – through a variety of programs and services and a network of 48 local chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information on ASID, visit www.asid.org. The University of Minnesota ranks third among the nation's public research universities and enrolls 55,000 students across six campuses statewide. InformeDesign is based in the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel in the College of Human Ecology, one of today's leading centers for discovering, integrating and communicating knowledge about the human ecosystem. For over a century, the college has improved lives around the world through innovative and committed research, education, and outreach. For more information on the University of Minnesota, visit www.che.umn.edu.