How IIDA Is Embedding Research and Strategy Into Design Practice
What Designers Should Know
- Foresight is moving from trend awareness to strategy. IIDA Futures reflects a shift toward research-backed insight that helps designers plan for what’s next, not just respond to what’s now.
- Designers’ advisory role is expanding. Applied futurism supports deeper client engagement, positioning designers as strategic partners in business and planning conversations.
- Research and education are becoming more integrated. Insights generated through IIDA Futures are intended to inform education, advocacy, and leadership initiatives across the association.
- Long-range thinking is a competitive skill. As market conditions grow more complex, foresight, scenario planning, and interpretation of change are increasingly core competencies for design practice.
Earlier this week, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) named Mark Bryan as its first Chief Research and Strategy Officer, formalizing a future-focused role that has been shaping the association’s thinking. Previously serving as IIDA’s Futurist-in-Residence, Bryan now joins the executive team to guide research and long-range strategy for the commercial interior design profession.
The appointment coincides with the launch of IIDA Futures, a new brand that brings the association’s foresight practice, research, and education—including the Certified Design Futurist program—under a single umbrella led by Bryan.
In announcing the move, IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl Durst described it as “a significant moment for IIDA,” noting that the expanded role and new platform build on the organization’s strengths while opening doors to what’s next for its members and the industry at large.
Together, the leadership appointment and the debut of IIDA Futures reflect a broader, intentional shift: positioning IIDA not only as an advocate and convener, but as a source of applied foresight—helping interior designers expand their value, adapt to volatility, and engage more deeply as business and planning partners.
What Does IIDA Futures Launch Mean for Interior Design Professionals?
With the launch of IIDA Futures, the association is identifying how future-focused research and strategy fit into the day-to-day realities of design practice—especially as firms navigate fluctuations across business, technology, and the built environment.
What IIDA Futures is designed to do:
- Centralize IIDA’s foresight and research efforts so insights can be applied consistently across the industry
- Help identify emerging skills and capabilities designers will need as client expectations and market conditions evolve
- Inform education, advocacy, and leadership initiatives with forward-looking context, not just current-state data
- Support clearer planning and decision-making by translating emerging conditions into actionable insight
What doesn’t change:
- The Certified Design Futurist credential remains a standalone program focused on individual skill development
- Access to IIDA Futures insights is not limited to course participants
- IIDA membership fees are not affected by the launch of IIDA Futures
Futurism as an Adoptable Business Model
For some time, interior designers have been navigating a complex mix of forces—rapid technology integration, shifting economic and regulatory conditions, and mounting manufacturing and procurement pressures. At the same time, IIDA leadership has been closely tracking a parallel challenge: the growing influence of adjacent professions adopting design thinking, often without the discipline or accountability of design practice itself.
Rather than reacting to trend-based forecasts alone, IIDA identified strategic foresight as a way to help designers lead with intention—using long-range, evidence-based thinking to create resilient spaces and more durable client value.
That perspective was expressed publicly last year, when Durst told interiors+sources Market Content Director Robert Nieminen on the I Hear Design podcast that while “we can’t stop other people from co-opting design [thinking],” designers can deepen their competencies and expand their strategic relevance. “We know that designers can’t sit still,” Durst said.
The association’s response has been deliberate. Through the Certified Design Futurist program—developed with and led by Bryan—IIDA began formalizing applied futurism as a repeatable, adoptable skill set. The course equips participants with data-driven methods and scenario-based insights that support expanded business scope, more strategic client engagement, and a stronger advisory role.
Establishing a dedicated executive role and launching IIDA Futures builds on that foundation: It shifts foresight from a programmatic offering to an organizational capability embedded in IIDA’s long-term strategy.
“I’m honored to be joining IIDA at such an auspicious moment; I can’t imagine a more crucial time to bring a robust, in-house foresight practice to an organization that has already invested so much in the future of our profession and industry,” said Bryan in IIDA’s announcement. “The momentum is on our side, and I can’t wait to explore all the ways in which IIDA will be shaping the future of design.”
Directing Momentum for the Design Profession
According to IIDA leadership, the intent behind IIDA Futures is to establish a permanent, in-house research and strategy capability that informs the association’s work across education, advocacy, and thought leadership. In an email statement to interiors+sources, IIDA’s representative commented, “IIDA Futures will ensure that what is developed is not only grounded in current conditions but also aligned with the direction of the built environment, the profession, and its clients.”
Rather than producing isolated reports or surface-level trend tracking, IIDA Futures is envisioned as a framework for interpreting emerging conditions, which will help the industry better understand what to prepare for, where to invest, and which risks and opportunities are developing across the built environment. In its remarks, the association indicated that this approach is expected to support the development of forward-looking frameworks, benchmarks, and guidance that give design firms more practical tools for planning and decision-making.
With Bryan now positioned to lead research, strategy, and foresight under the IIDA Futures banner, the association is consolidating a practice it has been steadily building for several years.
By aligning foresight with sustainability, inclusivity, and performance outcomes, IIDA has positioned futurism not as an abstract exercise, but as a practical tool—one that strengthens the value of design decision-making and improves the human experience of the built environment.
*Article outline and key highlights generated using AI assistance. All writing and editing was performed by interiors+sources staff and reviewed for clarity and accuracy.
About the Author
Carrie Meadows
Head of Content
Carrie Meadows is Head of Content for interiors+sources, where she leads editorial strategy, content development, and brand storytelling focused on the people, projects, and innovations shaping the design industry. With more than two decades of experience in B2B media, she has built a career connecting technical expertise with creative insight—translating complex topics into meaningful stories for professional audiences.
Before joining interiors+sources in 2024, Carrie served as Editor-in-Chief of LEDs Magazine within Endeavor Business Media’s Digital Infrastructure & Lighting Group, guiding coverage of emerging lighting technologies, sustainability, and human-centric design. Her earlier editorial experience spans across Laser Focus World, Vision Systems Design, Lightwave, and CleanRooms, where she managed print and digital publications serving the optics, photonics, and semiconductor sectors.
An advocate for clear communication and thoughtful storytelling, Carrie combines her editorial management, SEO, and content strategy expertise to help brands and readers stay informed in a rapidly evolving media landscape. When she’s not crafting content, Carrie can be found volunteering at a local animal shelter, diving into a good crime novel, or spending time outdoors with family, friends, and her favorite four-legged friends.