This talk explores how designers can leverage interdisciplinary and mixed-methods research in practice. Drawing on experience leading research at a large integrated design firm, we’ll examine three essential approaches: data triangulation, empirical observation, and qualitative participatory methods. A key focus will be aligning rigorous research methods with the realities of industry—including client perspectives, budget constraints, and project timelines. Through case studies, including co-creating measures of success and removing barriers to adoption for materials, attendees will see how systematic research methods translate into actionable design insights. This session demonstrates how research becomes a strategic practice rather than a one-off project.
B Sanborn
B Sanborn specializes in helping organizations use research to transform ad-hoc decision-making into evidence-based design. Their methodology bridges anthropology, environmental psychology, and organizational behavior to reveal patterns in how teams collaborate, how stakeholders engage with research, and how evidence influences design decisions. Through their work at DLR Group and in industry research associations, B helps practitioners build research thinking into their design process. B currently serves as Design Research Leader at DLR Group, where they’ve spent eight years building the firm’s research program from a solo practice into a team of four, establishing research strategy, capability frameworks, and ROI models for integrated design firms. They are also a Principal in the firm. B holds an MS in Environmental Psychology from Cornell University with a minor in Organizational Behavior and a BA in Archaeology and Physical Anthropology from CSU Sacramento. Their published research on coworking environments and workplace dynamics appears in the Journal of Corporate Real Estate and design theory handbooks. They serve as 2025-26 Board Chair of the Environmental Design Research Association, sit on the Center for Health Design’s EDAC Advisory Council, and contribute to the American Psychological Association’s Climate Change Task Force. B has studied theater and dance alongside their research career, bringing elements of improv, spatial dynamics, and embodied listening to their work—informing a research philosophy based on negotiating shared movement within structure. Based in Charleston, SC.DLR Group website: www.dlrgroup.com
Website: www.bsanborn.com
