A blog about design at the OU.
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From traffic to teaching: Lessons on informal designs from Nigeria
On my way to Nigeria, I read an article in Wallpaper* magazine (October 2025) about ‘informal designs’ in Nigeria. This felt like a coincidence because I was travelling to Lagos to give a keynote address at the 4th International Colloquium of the Distance Learning Institute at the University of Lagos. The audience included more than…
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New Book: Studio Properties
“There is something very special about the studio as a place of practice and learning” After years of research and writing, Studio Properties: A Field Guide to Design Education is now out! The book is co-authored by a team of international design educators and scholars, including myself (Derek Jones) and Nicole Lotz. It builds on…
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Designing What Doesn’t Exist (Yet)
Designing What Doesn’t Exist (Yet): How Co-Design and Design Fiction Challenge the Innovator’s Dilemma by Rachel A.Wood. A few months ago, I was starting to think about early prototypes for my research. As the result of this I looked at different ways to encourage new ideas. I started to read further about design fiction, and how it…
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Designing away digital mess
Have you ever found yourself frustrated by how complex and messy our digital society has made what were previously quite simple tasks? Take paying for parking your car. Once there were simple cash ticket machines (or even someone in a cabin at the entrance). Pay, display the ticket; job done. Now there may still be…
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Radical Roots: Addressing inequalities of opportunity through place-based co-design approaches
Radical Roots is a collaborative research project exploring inequalities of opportunity, delivered in partnership between The Open University and our community partner, Zebra Collective. An interdisciplinary journey, so far Building on a career of design, innovation, and collaboration in practice across various sectors, I am delighted to move into an academic space. I will lead…
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OU Sustainathon 2025: A Week of Sustainable Innovation and Student Collaboration
Last week, The Open University proudly hosted its first-ever Sustainathon — an exciting, week-long online initiative where STEM student teams tackled real-world sustainability challenges presented by third-sector organisations. The main objective of the activity is to develop employability skills and increase sustainability awareness. This year, we were thrilled to collaborate with English Heritage and The…
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Design for Accessible Travel Infrastructure
Disabled people in the UK make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people — a figure that’s barely shifted in over a decade. This sustained Transport Accessibility Gap reveals systemic inequalities in mobility and social inclusion. To challenge this, the Motability Foundation funds vital research into inclusive transport systems, supporting disabled researchers, like myself, through a…
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Designing out youth crime
Youth crime remains one of the most persistent and complex challenges facing societies worldwide. While crime among adolescents can take many forms—ranging from petty theft and vandalism to gang involvement—its root causes are rarely simple. Factors such as poverty, family breakdown, school disengagement, and systemic inequality all converge to increase risk. Previously an approach that…
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Designing the OU
We’ve been teaching design at the OU since its beginning in the 1970’s. So it’s always been fascinating to me how you design a thing like The Open University? And trust me, the OU was designed. If you look at the history of the the early vision and ideas for the OU, you can see…
