Design Research

Design is the application of creativity for the benefit of people and society. It is interdisciplinary by its nature and incorporates knowledge, methods and technologies diverse fields from arts, humanities, engineering and sciences.

The Design Research Group brings together experts from different disciplines interested in the practice, theory, and history of design. It fosters new approaches to design thinking, design enquiry, design implementation and the use of design techniques and related technologies to make positive societal, economic and environmental impacts. Our aspiration is to enable solutions that address complex societal, cultural, and most importantly, environmental challenges. We apply the sustainable transformation lens across design disciplines to develop impactful and sustainable paradigms of value, including environmental, social and economic, boosting designers’ capability and agency to drive positive change.

A particular focus of our research explores personalisation and sustainability. This includes for example the role of personalisation in driving sustainable behaviours and digital services and the design and manufacture of bespoke and custom-fitting assisted living and medical devices.

The technological potential of the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence guides the growth of services that offer bespoke support to their users, tailoring products and experiences to suit individual needs. The assumption that individual choice automatically increases wellbeing has underlaid the re-design of how public services and creative industries operate and how digital spaces are built. The recent attitudinal shift towards more equitable futures demonstrates that new design pathways are needed to address the pressing social issues of sustainability in the face of a growing global population and the unfolding environmental crisis. User-centred design has been widely embraced by industry but is not a sufficient solution to enable transformations towards environmentally and socially just economic and consumption models. The economic growth narrative is no longer sustainable and needs to be reframed to enable new design perspectives.

Collaboration and knowledge exchange is at the heart of our research. Our group contributes significantly to research and practice within the School, across the University and other academic, industry and non-profit organisations nationally and internationally, and plays a key role in the development of Early Career Researchers at NTU.

Design Matter provide contract research, innovation and consultancy to industry and external partners providing knowledge exchange pathways for the effective application of our research into societal and economic impact.

The group contributes to the research and innovation activities of the NTU Medical Engineering Design Research Group and works with the Medical Technology Innovation Facility.