CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDIES

Research. Strategy. Learning. Storytelling.

Ways to Read This Work

I work across disciplines, so these projects can be read through multiple lenses.

Some visitors may see educational innovation. Others may recognize qualitative research, systems thinking, experience design, visual communication, or creative strategy.

Whatever lens you bring, each case study reflects a similar approach:

  • understanding people and contexts

  • making sense of complexity

  • creating artifacts that support insight and action

My work spans research, learning, systems thinking, and creative practice. These projects can be read through many lenses, but they share a common thread:

making complexity visible and designing new possibilities for action.

The Design Companion emerged as an attempt to support undergraduates studying educational design bridge research, design, reflection, and material interaction through a portable artifact system intentionally crafted to support ongoing inquiry rather than static record-keeping.

What you'll find here

Research

Qualitative inquiry and synthesis.

Strategy

Systems thinking and futures-oriented design.

Experience

Structures that shape participation and meaning.

Storytelling

Visual and narrative forms that make ideas tangible.

Aesthetic Practice

Attending to materiality, visual language, and the emotional qualities that make experiences memorable, inviting, and humane.

Research & Design

MARIA C. OLIVARES, PHD

Resources

Connect

Translating human insight into visual systems, meaningful experiences, and imaginative futures.

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