ABOUT
The Design x Health Research Innovation Lab aims to use design methods, practices and processes to improve lives by making them safer, easier, and healthier. Through design-based research, we generate and analyze evidence about people's healthcare needs, experiences, and behaviours. We are interested in collaborating with people and communities to build resilient, accessible, and equitable health futures.
“Current healthcare systems are confronted with progressively complex demands: ageing populations, growing drug ineffectiveness, health mis/disinformation and access to comprehensive services are just a few of the challenges faced today. Design offers methods, practices and processes to help address these challenges. While design and health have a long history of working together, much of this work has been limited.”
—Rowe, Knox, & Harvey 2020
Our work involves experience-based co-design research, qualitative methodologies drawn from diverse disciplines, and technology-based solutions to healthcare problems.
We focus on several areas:
participatory design approaches for developing and implementing interventions, tools, and solutions for better health
information design, human centred and evidence-based design
developing, evaluating, and applying innovative design methods and strategies to address complex healthcare challenges
building collaborative partnerships between academic researchers, designers, healthcare professionals, and community members
fostering interdisciplinary learning and engagement opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in design and health
supporting knowledge users, policymakers, and decision-makers to develop design-informed health settings, systems, and services
Our team has worked with private and public sector clients in education, health care, and government as well as with non-profit organizations.
TEAM
Gillian Harvey
Co-Director
Gillian is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design at the University of Alberta. As an early career researcher, she has had extensive experience building interdisciplinary, collaborative teams. Gillian has served as the principal researcher leading two public health teams involving over a dozen collaborators from across Canada. In her recent work, she uses applied design research for the purposes of communicating medical procedures in emergency situations. Her research interest in signage and wayfinding has led to opportunities to explore and analyse wayfinding systems and their importance in urban growth and development within a city.
Aidan Rowe
Co-Director
Aidan Rowe is an Associate Professor in Design Studies at the University of Alberta. His research, curatorial and practice interests are in design, health and education. Recent practice-based work explores future design scenarios with a focus on employing participatory design approaches—working with people—as a means to improve health care practices, processes and services. Recent pedagogic work explores the application of design methods and processes to public health and involves the development of curriculum for medicine and health students. He is Co-Editor of the GDC Journal and currently serves as the Chair of the Art & Design Department.
Michelle Knox
Research Coordinator
Michelle is a design and healthcare researcher, currently completing her PhD in medicine at the University of Alberta. Previously trained and experienced in visual communication design, she applies user-centred and participatory processes to complex systemic problems. She is currently a Fellow in Patient-Oriented Research (supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research), aiming to bring community-based, patient-centred solutions into health systems and services. Michelle provides research support for ongoing and new projects conducted within DHRIL. She also contributes to the preparation of grant proposals, the development of manuscripts, and knowledge sharing activities with partners and communities.
Rachel Schuck
Designer
Rachel Schuck is a third-year student in the University of Alberta’s Visual Communication Design program. She specializes in user experience and user interface design, with a deep passion for utilizing design methodologies to inform knowledge translation practices. In her past, Rachel has worked in Family Medicine research at the University of Calgary and has lead the design of a medical web-based application utilized by General Genomics. Throughout her work, Rachel aims to put the user at the center by asking deeper questions and connecting challenging concepts back to the heart of the user’s lived experiences to increase understandability. Currently, Rachel works as a learning experience designer at ATB Financial, applying instructional techniques to her design thinking process.
Autumn Sanders
Designer
Graduating from the University of Alberta's Bachelor of Design program, Autumn is driven by her passion for challenging norms, reimagining possibilities, and promoting equitable solutions that consider diverse needs.
Inspired by bridging gaps across various realms, Autumn thrives on connecting insights, people, and resources—across individual projects, sectors, and industries. Her design approach is informed by an understanding of the impact effective visual communication holds and guides her interest in transforming conversations into visually compelling artifacts that foster engagement and understanding.
Autumn’s current focus is centred around fostering belonging and cultivating community while pondering the role of designers in creating safe, inclusive environments for individuals with diverse experiences. Recognizing that problems are multifaceted, she embraces both human-scale details and their broader context.
Kelsey Tamura
Designer
Kelsey is a Bachelor of Design graduate from the University of Alberta. Through studying visual communication, she became interested how visual identities, placemaking, and information design can create meaningful connections between people and their lived environments. Within these relationships, she tries to create thoughtful communications that ignite feelings of delight and intrigue. Kelsey’s freelance work often has ties to the arts, research and academia. Her work with DHRIL has centered around establishing the art direction and brand identity for the lab. She is a member of The Association of Registered Graphic Designers and is currently working as an in-house designer.
Carlos Jarquin
Designer
Carlos Jarquin is a graduating student from the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Design program and has previously completed a degree in Electrical Engineering with a Biomedical Option from the same institution. Carlos believes that addressing multifaceted human problems relating to disparities and barriers within healthcare requires a multidisciplinary approach. Previous experiences within healthcare design include collaborating with the Bionic Limbs for Improved Natural Control Laboratory, Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory, Academic Technologies, and the Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence. By designing preventative and translational healthcare interventions, Carlos hopes to continue contributing towards an inclusive future that reflects and respects the diversity of our shared world.
Teagan MacNeil
Designer
A graduating student from the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Design program, Teagan is a multidisciplinary designer with experience in Visual Communication Design, Industrial Design, and Architecture. Underlying her interest in these areas of practice is a desire to understand and improve the mutually responsive relationship between humans and their natural & built environments. Teagan views design as a framework to understand, reflect, and improve the human condition and the inherently diverse and complex needs within it. Her design approach is centered around the practice of continually questioning and challenging existing systems and ways of thinking to improve or create effective solutions that address the heart of the problem. Motivated by feelings of empathy, Teagan believes that a thoughtful design solution is best achieved by listening to and valuing the experience of the end user throughout all stages of the design process. Ultimately, she strives to utilize both the theoretical and physical realms of design to create a positive impact, understanding the responsibility of designers and the potential of their contributions to foster human connection, belonging, and well-being.
