Author: Nicole Lotz
-
Design research snapshot
The design group is multidisciplinary and engages in a wide range of research, including on sustainability, education, inclusion, systems thinking, arts and activism. Working at a distance, it is difficult to keep track of what everyone is up to, and so, we have monthly meetings to discuss our projects and papers. Do look out for […]
-
Working towards gender equality at the School of Engineering and Innovation
I am very proud to say that the School of Engineering and Innovation, which Design is part of, has received an Athena SWAN Silver Award following its recent submission to AdvanceHE. Athena SWAN is an internationally-recognised gender equality initiative, acting as a catalyst for change and cultural transformation, which enables staff and students to achieve […]
-
Ensuring effective user input in design
Here are a couple of perspectives on how we can engender effective user input in design – one being the experience of doing this as part of three major research projects, and the other in terms of design teaching. Firstly, the research examples. A good many years ago Steve Potter went to the degree ceremony […]
-
LGBTQ+ DESIGN history month
It is LGBTQ+ history month and it is about time to have a look at some of the contributions of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender, Queer or Questioning people to design in the past. By a long way, the most famous designer with a love for the same sex must have been Leonardo da Vinci (https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191107-the-men-who-leonardo-da-vinci-loved). […]
-
Art History and Design in Dialogue: Abutments and Confluences
Design at the Open University has always bridged knowledge systems and approaches from the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. The Design Group connects to other schools within STEM but also to other faculties and schools at the Open University. The new Special Issue in the Open Arts Journal ART HISTORY AND DESIGN IN DIALOGUE: […]
-
Design @Open YouTube channel
We have curated a collection of videos authored by OU Design staff and students on our newly opened YouTube channel. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/channel/UC5dwgQTcTO0bCgA1Oiu-TBQ/playlists The collection introduces research projects, qualification engagement events and seminars. We seek to grow the collection, and each month we will introduce a Design academic in a video interview. In October, I interviewed Prof […]
-
Necessity is the mother of invention
In the Socratic dialogue ‘Republic’, Plato famously wrote: “our need will be the real creator” (Wikipedia.org, 2020) which was moulded over time into the English proverb ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’. Having read multiple articles of inventions and innovations in medicine, technology, or supply chains over the last 6 months, more than once a […]
-
Designing in partnership
This blog was co-authored by Abbie Jackson, Anna Ward-Stancheva, Georgy Holden, Leo Rees-Evans, Mar Reyes, Nicole Lotz and Rebekah Manston, all Design and Innovation students at the Open University. On June 25th 2020, the third annual exhibition of work of OU design students was launched. Every year, we invite students to design the exhibition together […]
-
About the privilege of learning through mistakes
This blog post is about how I learn from making mistakes. We tell our first-year design students that it is essential not to dismay when they make mistakes. In fact, making a mistake and reflecting on why this mistake happened (and possibly how to avoid it next time) is the best that can happen to […]
-
The design opportunities in a crisis
It seems to be a little inappropriate to talk about ‘opportunity’ when you think about the current health crisis. The first association between these two words might be that of profiteering. But having had a good look at design and technology related news over the last weeks, I could mainly see other, more altruistic, design […]