The People-Centred Research course introduces students to research as both a method and a mindset for understanding human experience and designing meaningful futures. Using Bergamo as a living laboratory, students investigated how tourism and mobility shape the experiences of residents, visitors and local communities, asking how cities can remain deeply human while adapting to change.

The course sits within a broader sequence alongside Data as a Design Material and Nature-Inspired Design, acting as connective tissue between systems and people. Students explored themes including belonging, community, mobility, intergenerational connection, trust, hope, joy and the qualities that make places feel welcoming and alive. They considered how design can support everyday life while creating opportunities for discovery, connection and participation.

Through expert talks, field immersion, observation, interviews, shadowing and synthesis, students developed practical research skills for working within complex human systems. They learnt to frame meaningful research questions, recognise patterns in qualitative data, translate findings into insights and opportunities, and communicate what they discover through storytelling, storyboarding and visual artefacts.

Bergamo provides a rich context for this work, with teams investigating questions around preserving everyday life, movement as an experience, intergenerational connection, and cultivating trust and joy. Students were encouraged to look beyond conventional research methods, considering what nature might do, what AI might miss and what makes an experience uniquely human.

The course culminated in the development and testing of future concepts grounded in research. Students refined their ideas through feedback and communicated them through a final presentation and a letter to Future Bergamo, sharing opportunities for creating more connected, caring and human-centred urban experiences.

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