I am Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Director of Open Lab. My work focuses on the design of interactive computational technologies. I’m particularly interested in design research methods and the ways in which technology design can be centred on the rich understanding of user experiences, cultures and contexts. I have particular research interests in designing for smart environments, human-data futures and digital living.
I previously held positions as Professor of Digital Living at Northumbria University; Senior Lecturer of Experience-Centred Design and then Reader in Cultural Computing at Newcastle University; Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction in the Mixed Reality Lab and School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham; and was a post-doc in the Socio-Digital Systems group at Microsoft Research Cambridge.
My background:
BSc (Hons) Psychology (York)
MSc Ergonomics (Loughborough)
PhD Computer Science (Nottingham)
Over the years my work has been heavily influenced by interdisciplinary collaborations with sociologists, philosophers and designers and consequently I take a design-led, social science orientation to understanding human experience and its application to the design of digital technologies. Accordingly, and although trained as an experimental scientist, my research is increasingly based on exploratory design-research practices.