Karin Schmidlin
PhD Student
she / her / hers
Student Agency
Complexity
Design Education
Design Futures
UX
Biography
Karin is a passionate educator with over 19 years of experience teaching User Experience (UX) Design at the post-secondary level. She holds a Master of Digital Media (MDM) from the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver and currently teaches design-focused courses at UBC’s School of Information, serving both the graduate Library program and the undergraduate Minor in Informatics. In addition she teaches various courses in data-driven design, usability, and Design Futures at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Northeastern University (Vancouver Campus), and the Wilson School of Design at Kwantlen Polytechnic. In conjunction with her teaching endeavours, Karin is pursuing her doctoral degree, with a research focus on fostering student agency within complex design simulations. Her work explores how immersive, collaborative learning environments can empower students to take ownership of their learning. In 2017, Karin was honoured with an Excellence in Teaching award from the University of Waterloo in recognition of her dedication in the classroom. In addition, Karin is an avid reader and drinks copious amounts of black coffee.
Awards & Honours
Excellence in Arts Teaching Award, University of Waterloo, 2017
Session’s Best Paper Award, EISTA Conference, Orlando, FL, USA, 2016
Best Student Game Award, Canadian Video Game Awards – for multiplayer game WOMP! developed at the Centre for Digital Media, Vancouver, 2011
Microsoft Development Grant ($10,000) for WOMP!, Redmond, WA, USA, 2010
The Panasonic Canada Inc. Award in New Media Design, for my short film “Life in 5 Minutes”, British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Burnaby, June, 2005
Friedl-Wald Foundation, Acting Award (CHF10,000), Zurich, Switzerland, 1989
Projects
Academic Conferences No Right Solutions: Teaching Design for Complexity through Student Agency. Design Educators 2026, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, (May 28, 2026)
Designing for Agency in the Face of Complexity: A Simulation-Based Teachable Moment. EduCHI 2026, University of Toronto, (May 21, 2026)
The Virtual Incubation Program: Empowering Virtual Entrepreneurship Education. Higher Education Teaching and Learning Conference (HETL), with Dr. Doug Sparkes, Anchorage, AK, USA, 2013.
3D Gaming Technology, Data Visualization for Ocean Research, BC Net, Advanced Networks for Higher Education and Research, with Sherman Lai (UBC), Vancouver BC, April 2009.
Workshops & Community Engagements Facilitator UBC Student Leadership Conference (SLC), Vancouver BC (2023) Faculty lead, experienced Design Camp, University of Waterloo (2013, 2015, 2019)
TEDxUW, ‘Teaching for the 21st Century.’ (November 2016)
Workshop facilitator for high school students, community partners, and industry professionals on design thinking, user experience, and innovation (2015–2021)
Instructor, UX: Designing Technology that people want, March Open Houses mock-lectures, University of Waterloo (2016-21)
Waterloo Unlimited International, University of Waterloo, ‘Design Thinking’ (for high school students) (2016-17)
Workshop facilitator, Design for Business Students, PRISM Resources, Wilfrid Laurier University, Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, (2015)
Creative Works
Curriculum Development & Academic Program Reviews & Development Multiple Institutions, 2011–2023
Assessor, Micro-Credential Assessment Pilot Project, Thompson Rivers University (2023)
Program review and curriculum designer, UX Design Certificate Program, Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2023–2024)
Restructuring program architecture and developed new course offerings Program Advisory Committee member, Bachelor of Design in Creative Technologies and Graduate Certificate in UX Design, Humber College (2015)
Advisory Committee member, Game Design and Development (BFAA) program, Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford campus (2013)
Review Panel member, BC Ministry of Advanced Education, Bachelor of Applied Design in Web Design, The Art Institute of Vancouver (2011)
Manager & Lead Designer, Virtual Incubation Program CONRAD School of Entrepreneurship and Business, University of Waterloo | 2012–2018
Led design and development of Jamii, a virtual incubation platform serving entrepreneurial students across multiple international institutions Managed strategic partnerships and virtual entrepreneurship programs with Strathmore University (Nairobi, Kenya), Information Technology Institute (Cairo, Egypt), and University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK) Designed scalable, technology-enabled learning experiences that supported distributed student cohorts across different time zones and cultural contexts Published research on virtual learning environments and hybrid approaches for entrepreneurship education; received Session’s Best Paper Award at EISTA 2016
Selected Publications
Armitage, Bischoff, Schmidlin, K., & Sparkes. (2018). Jamii: A Virtual Incubation Platform for Entrepreneurs. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 3(2), 19–23.
Sparkes, Schmidlin, K., & Hsu. (2016). Virtual Learning Environment for Entrepreneurship: A Conceptual Model. EISTA Conference. Winner: Session’s Best Paper Award.
Sparkes, Schmidlin, K., Armitage, & Mankotia. (2016). A Hybrid Approach for Entrepreneurship Distance Education. IMSCI Conference Proceedings, Volume II.