NADR 2026 - If Everybody Designs, What Makes a Designer?

This is event is organized by NADR - the Network Applied Design Research - as part of its annual knowledge cycle 2026.
About this Event

NADR 2026 - If Everybody Designs, What Makes a Designer?

We are pleased to invite you to NADR2026, an interactive afternoon dedicated to exploring the question: If Everybody Designs, What Makes a Designer?

Design is getting more and more attention in higher professional education. Professionals not only need research skills to understand issues, but also need design skills to develop plans what to do. As Herbert Simon observed “everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones”. It implies that not only students who aim to become professional designers need to be trained in design, but also professionals who design.

Whereas for professional designers, such as architects, product-, fashion- and multimedia designers their core identity and expertise is design, for professionals who design it is a merely tool or methodology to achieve a goal, often naming it ‘design thinking’. Consider communication specialists, doctors, policymakers or entrepreneurs. In Dutch, this would be about the difference between the ‘professionele ontwerper’ versus the ‘ontwerpende professional’.

This event is part of NADR’s 2026 knowledge cycle. During this session we will not search for quick solutions — instead, we will refine and deepen the questions that matter most.

Event Details

• Date: Monday, 19 October 2026
• Time: 13:00 – 17:00
• Location: Microlab (Skybar), Kastanjelaan 400, Eindhoven
• Format: Presentations, interactive workshop, collective synthesis, and networking

Who should attend?

• Authors of accepted NADR 2026 contributions (at least one author per contribution is required)
• Designers, researchers, and partners interested in the question: If Everybody Designs, What Makes a Designer?

Why join?

• Hear diverse perspectives on how AI is influencing design practice and research
• Contribute your own expertise in a collaborative workshop format