Kim Erwin | Visiting Associate Professor
Kim Erwin is a visiting associate professor at the IIT Institute of Design since 2009, having been a member of the school's adjunct faculty since 2006, and graduated from the program in 1994 with an MDes. In her fifteen years of practice, Kim has specialized in the communication and application of strategic user research, first with innovation planning firm Doblin and then as an independent consultant. Applications include technology planning and new product development (Motorola, Texas Instruments, Allstate Financial) as well as brand and new business development (Purina, Arm & Hammer, Schick).
Kim's passion is for the most information-intensive aspects of design practice—in particular the conversion of user research and secondary research into stories and frameworks that designers and business leaders can use as a basis for action. At ID, she teaches communication theory and practice, helping students connect classic principles of communication design to the new information environment of random-access, non-linear information experiences.
Kim's research focuses on developing communication tools and approaches that better fit emerging cultural and cognitive preferences, as business and design adapt to the network model for seeking and receiving information. Her graduate work at ID focused on the potential of new media (at that time, 'interactive television'). Today, she continues to investigate the potential of social media, interaction and new forms of information presentation to create just-in-time learning environments and decision-support, as well as tell multi-faceted stories about emerging human needs and behaviors.
