My Expertise
My expertise is in designing social experiences with neurodivergent people. I use UX (user experience) and interaction design methods to co-create novel opportunities for engagement with groups that are often marginalised or otherwise not given a voice in the development of interactive products and services. I am currently working on haptic and audio technologies for use by a range of neurodiverse people and researching the effectiveness of 'quiet rooms' by autistic children and their families at large sporting events.
Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Design, Interaction and experience design, Affective computingSEO tags
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Art & Design at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA), where I use inclusive design and human-centred approaches to work alongside neurodivergent and disabled communities. My research sits at the intersection of health, disability and design, bringing an interaction design and user experience (UX) perspective to co-production, accessibility and emerging technologies.
As Lead of the UNSW Adaptive Design...view more
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Art & Design at UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA), where I use inclusive design and human-centred approaches to work alongside neurodivergent and disabled communities. My research sits at the intersection of health, disability and design, bringing an interaction design and user experience (UX) perspective to co-production, accessibility and emerging technologies.
As Lead of the UNSW Adaptive Design Lab, I collaborate with community partners, health services, industry and researchers to explore how design and other creative practice can contribute to more accessible, equitable and responsive futures. My work examines how technologies, services and systems can be designed with—not simply for—the people who use them, with a particular focus on neurodiversity, disability and co-production.
A key theme of my research is the shift from 'assistive' to 'adaptive' technology design: a strengths-based approach that emphasises agency, creativity and everyday lived experience. Through co-production and community-led methods, I work with autistic people, disabled people, families and support networks to develop more meaningful approaches to technology design and implementation. My research explores embodied and sensory interaction, inclusive design methods, adaptive technologies, and the role these can play in supporting social connection, wellbeing and participation.
My Qualifications
- PhD Art, Design and Media (UNSW Sydney, Australia)
- B Digital Media, Hons First Class (UNSW Sydney, Australia)
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Currently supervising
- Wei Wang, Will visual scaffolding with elaborated letterforms make a difference for dyslexic readers? An experimental research on font and reading difficulty, PhD
- Ryan Nicholas, Developing Self-Expressive Compositional Music Therapy Practices as a Lifelong Well-Being Support for Neurodivergents, PhD