From Dead-ends to Dialogue: Third Workshop on Design Research & GenAI
Willem van der Maden, Vera van der Burg, Brett A. Halperin, Petra Jääskeläinen, Péter Kun, Derek Lomas, Timothy Robert Merritt, Joseph Lindley, Pavel Okopnyi, Frode Guribye, Maria Luce Lupetti, Jichen Zhu · 2025
In this third installment of our GenAI workshop series at DIS, we focus on 'stopsigns'-the blockages that impede progress in design research with GenAI.These stopsigns manifest as both semantic barriers (political, social, or mental frameworks) and pragmatic hurdles (technical limitations or implementation challenges) that persist despite the rapid advancements since the GenAI boom.Such stopsigns present a productive tension-they often contain partial truths worthy of consideration while simultaneously being shortsighted in ways that prevent progression.From blanket rejection to uncritical acceptance, these barriers affect how meaningfully we engage with GenAI's potential.Our workshop welcomes both returning and first-time participants to share their experiences with these persistent challenges and work together to develop practical solutions.Through analysis of real cases and hands-on activities,