Category: Design engagement

  • Reflections on our face to face design meet-ups this year

    Reflections on our face to face design meet-ups this year

    We have been delighted to be able to run a number of informal face to face meet ups at various venues across the country this autumn. It has been wonderful to meet with students as well as their partners, children and grandchildren! It has been a joy to meet such enthusiastic students and to see […]

  • Designing for possibility and growth: the ‘art of the possible’ meets ‘Jobs-to-be-Done.’

    Designing for possibility and growth: the ‘art of the possible’ meets ‘Jobs-to-be-Done.’

    Designing for possibility and growth: the ‘art of the possible’ meets ‘Jobs-to-be-Done.’ By: Rachel A.Wood. In my work as a designer, I use and talk about ‘the art of the possible’ (AoP) and the ‘Jobs-to-be-Done’ (JTBD) method very often. This is mainly because I have found that they are particularly useful in creating and sustaining a […]

  • Designing communities for belonging

    Designing communities for belonging

    For years, I’ve been exploring ways to design with and for communities at the Open University (OU). A recent event showcasing student community projects highlighted a growing interest among staff and students in building and supporting these initiatives. Being part of a community or communities instils a sense of belonging. Belonging, a sense of connectedness […]

  • Women’s research @ Engineering & Innovation showcase

    Women’s research @ Engineering & Innovation showcase

    To celebrate the International Women in Engineering Day 2024 (#INWED24), we organised an online event to showcase some of the cutting-edge research carried out by our women researchers at the School of Engineering and Innovation (E&I) at The Open University (OU). In this event, women researchers at different stages of the research career presented their […]

  • Digital Transformation in Finance: Key Takeaways from the Banking Summit

    Digital Transformation in Finance: Key Takeaways from the Banking Summit

    The banking sector, long seen as a bastion of tradition, is undergoing a transformation driven by digital innovation and a renewed focus on user-centric design. At the heart of this transformation is a shift in thinking that prioritises understanding and meeting users’ real needs. As we explore the role of design in banking, it becomes […]

  • Presenting Futures Literacy to the Scottish Government

    Presenting Futures Literacy to the Scottish Government

    One of the things we get to do now and again as academics is to speak to governments and politicians in policy areas we are interested in. This year, the OU in Scotland contributed to the Royal Society of Chemistry event Science and the Parliament event. This brings together scientists, business, politicians, and government to […]

  • The BAD Conference

    The BAD Conference

    I recently had the opportunity to attend The Bad Conference, part of Product Design Week #PDW23, organised by Tech Circus in London. The turnout for the in-person event was impressive, with 250 individuals joining in person. Networking, an essential part of such gatherings, felt notably different post-Covid. Rather than the fluid mingling of the past, […]

  • Designing the ‘Fry Equation’

    Designing the ‘Fry Equation’

    Harmonising purpose: exploring the ‘Fry Equation’ and bridging the gap between reform and service design by Rachel A.Wood.   Whilst undertaking some literature searches for my design research project, I started to look at significant figures who have worked tirelessly to design, reform, and transform the criminal justice system for mothers in the UK. I […]

  • Celebrating a Decade of Strategic Partnership between The Glass-House Community Led Design and the Open University

    Celebrating a Decade of Strategic Partnership between The Glass-House Community Led Design and the Open University

    Guest blog post by Sophia de Sousa, Chief Executive of The Glass-House Community Led Design Last month, I had the immense pleasure of watching my long-time collaborator and now dear friend, Professor Theodore Zamenopoulos, give his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Citizen-led Design at The Open University. Whilst it was an academic lecture about collaborative […]

  • Teaching ‘Climate Creativity’

    A few months ago, I was invited by Kathmandu University as a guest lecturer to run a workshop on Climate Creativity for their final year BA students in Design and Fine Art. The three-week-long workshop was part of their Studio Practice module and through a practice-based approach aimed at generating reflection on the relationship between […]