Learning to Not Know is a guest lecture developed for undergraduate design students, focused on research, uncertainty, and the realities of design practice beyond polished outcomes. Drawing from my undergraduate capstone, Master’s research in Inclusive Design, and ongoing work in child-centered design and design for play, the lecture reframes not knowing as a critical research skill rather than a failure.
Through personal narrative and project examples, the talk explores the “messy middle” of design research, including slow timelines, shifting questions, ethics processes, and the discomfort of letting data challenge assumptions. Students are invited to reconsider certainty, performance, and expertise, and to see curiosity, listening, and iteration as central to rigorous and inclusive design practice.
The lecture is intended to support students navigating capstone projects, research-driven work, and decisions about graduate study, while offering a grounded, honest account of what it means to learn through uncertainty rather than around it.
