Associate Dean
Research & Innovation, School of Design, Northumbria University
Newcastle, UK

My work related to service design began in the early 1980s with design practice for emergency service communications, involving complex system design with divergent stakeholder needs. This became a PhD study to examine ways in which the design methods and processes could be refined, including a model of key defining characteristics for strategic management and delivery of system/service type projects.
I have developed and refined these methods and models over the intervening period through design practice research in collaboration with industry and through design curricula and project-based learning at Northumbria University.
My publications in the field relate to design worldview thinking, philosophy and methods to support systems/service design practice as an evolving and complex human activity. I have previously participated in the Designing for the 21st Century, ‘Design for Services’ research project with Oxford University and the Design of the Times 2007 (Dott07) community engagement projects.