I work as part of a dynamic design team, Pier Six, that provides service insights and experimentation services to both help solve service design issues for IRCC departments as well as build design research capacity within those departments. Wonderful people, wonderful energy, wonderful possibilities!

I currently teach two courses (Design Theory I and Design Theory II) in the program (https://www.human-centred.ca/). In Design Theory I we go through the various approaches to design and their implications for academic, private and public research, while in Design Theory II we focus on how to develop a research project to tie background literature to interview and design research data to help answer a client need. It is a nice blend between academic and applied, my own experience and those of my colleagues at Algonquin and IRCC.

Adjunct Research Professor with School of Industrial Design from 2006 to present with graduate supervisory privileges. In light of my career experiences I now have three main related areas of research interest:First, I seek to better understand the nature of design research methods and theory and how it relates to the improvement of understanding users and product needs in designSecond, I want to explore the role of Indigenous pedagogies and design research pedagogies in educationThird, I want to explore how design and anthropology methods can be better combined and how we can foster a mutually productive relationship between our disciplines, as we both seek to better understand those communities and individuals we work with.Teaching Experience includes anthropology courses in introductory anthropology, symbolic anthropology, human evolution, applied anthropology, research methods and Indigenous peoples of Canada; in design I have taught courses in social understanding of human design and seminars in designing for the majority world.Projects and Publications: • Paul Thibaudeau “A Framework for Merging Design Thinking and Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge” – Paper written and awaiting submission to Journals• Stephen Field and Paul Thibaudeau “Bridging Design and Indigenous Ways of Knowing to Enhance Indigenous engagement in the design process”• Alëna Iouguina and Paul Thibaudeau “Bringing the Tangible to the Intangible: New Approaches to UX Design Research”• Paul Thibaudeau and WonJoon Chung “Enhancing Qualitative Research in Design: Getting at the Deeper Understanding of the User”

Through my sole proprietorship consulting company, Intermesh Enterprises, I have worked either as the lead consultant or consultant in partnership, on over forty separate projects that include the following key sectors:- Program evaluation of public sector programs (federal and provincial) (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal focused)- Policy research (Aboriginal self-government and education-related topics)- Marketing and opinion research (creating and analyzing quantative and qualitative research metrics)- Archaeological and Environmental Heritage Assessments in Ontario and Quebec jurisdictions- Project Management and Training