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Staff Profile

Staff Profile

Professor Abi Durrant

Professor of Interaction Design

Background

I’m Professor of Interaction Design in Open Lab at Newcastle University, predominantly working in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

My research addresses the significant design challenges that we face for managing identity in our everyday interactions with digital technologies and personal data. I have explored the digital representation of selfhood in the context of family relationships and legacies, major life transitions, memorialisation, cultural heritage, human rights media, and personal identity management.

I am particularly interested in the health implications of managing a digitally-mediated self. I am Principal Investigator for the EPSRC-funded project INTUIT: Interaction Design for Trusted Sharing of Personal Health Data to Live Well with HIV  (EP/R033900/1), a design-led programme that aims to understand and address issues of trust, identity and privacy that are experienced by people living with HIV when sharing self-generated data with clinicians, peers, and others, for the purposes of self-managing their condition.

I’m also Co-I on EPSRC Playing Out with IOT (EP/P025544/2), exploring an outdoor design space for children’s creative free play with Internet of Things. My work is grounded in co-creative, experience-centred, and research-through-design approaches, working closely with non-academic partners to define and conduct research.

I actively contribute to a number of academic communities, including SIGCHI Conferences and the Design Research Society (DRS) Conference. I am a Steering Committee member for the biennial RTD Conference series (and was previously General Chair of RTD 2015). I am also a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and Reviewer for EPSRC.

More information can be found at my personal website: www.abigaildurrant.com.
The most up-to-date list of my publications can be found on my Google Scholar page. 
Research

I am currently Principal Investigator of EPSRC INTUIT (EP/R033900/1): https://intuitproject.org/

I am currently Co-Investigator of EPSRC Playing Out with IOT (EP/P025544/2): http://playingout.digital/

More information about previous research projects can be found at: www.abigaildurrant.com.

Teaching

I currently teach Interaction Design on the MSc in Human Computer Interaction Design at Newcastle University.

I currently supervise 8 PhD students, in Interaction Design, Communication Design, Industrial Design, Computer Science, and Human Computer Interaction. I have previously supervised three PhD students to successful completion.



Publications