People

Director of the Collective Innovation Lab

• Developing tools and methods to support the collective production of human-centered solutions to complex challenges by diverse groups of stakeholders.
• The group's vision is to have collaborative ideation and design methods stand as cornerstones for building a future where innovation is accessible, fair, and truly beneficial to all.

Aligning Conversational AI and Human Values

• Malak's PhD involved creating a framework and toolkit to improve alignment between conversational AI and human values through collaborative design practices.
• Malak is a fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence at Cambridge University, with a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration x Problem Framing

• Echo's PhD involves conducting studies to understand challenges around team dynamics and design processes in interdisciplinary healthcare design teams.
• Echo's research addresses these challenges and aims to build a framework to create shared understandings and objectives for more effective collaboration, particularly in the problem framing phase of design process.

Sensitive Design Methods of FemTech Innovations

• Diana's research involves developing a sensitive design framework and patient-centred toolkit aimed to bridge the gender gap in digital healthcare innovation design, supported by EPSRC, UKRI. 
• Diana is an innovation designer and researcher. She has worked in healthcare design, AI innovation and inclusive design with organisations such as GSK, Jacobs, Microsoft and Holition. She received the Young Innovators Award from Innovate UK, the Commendation for Excellence in IoT Innovation from Microsoft UK, and has been a voluntary delegate at the 68th UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Women’s Health Innovation

• Mabel’s research investigates inequalities within women’s healthcare, with the aim to co-design innovative solutions and frameworks, through inclusive design principles.
• Mabel has a background in Anthropology, Innovation and Visual Communication. Her most recent work has involved creating a human-centred design toolkit for Misophonia research. She approaches complex problems as ecosystems that require interdisciplinary understanding, in order to create social impact.

Exploring AI-Assisted vs Human-Led Design Research

This study compares interviews and data-analysis processes led by artificial intelligence (AI) versus human researchers. We aim to understand whether AI-assisted methods can improve the speed, consistency, and depth of research insights without compromising participant comfort or trust. The findings will help refine methods for designing better user experiences.

The Use of Gen AI in Early-Stage User Research

This project evaluates how generative AI tools can enhance early-stage user research when time and resources are limited. While students, startup founders, and hackathon attendees recognise that quality user research is vital for product success, these activities are often shortened or skipped due to constraints. Through assessing current AI tools, we aim to discover ways to streamline the research process and minimise post-processing work for research teams.

AI Toolkit for Inclusive Co-Design

This project develops and evaluates a facilitator-facing toolkit for inclusive co-design workshops. The toolkit combines AI visualisations with structured facilitation guidance to support autistic participants in expressing design ideas and engaging more comfortably in co-design workshops.

Sensitisation Activities for Women's Health

This project explores how creative, hands-on methods, specifically comic-making, can be used to sensitise participants before co-design activities in women's health contexts. By encouraging authentic expression through visual storytelling, the toolkit aims to reduce social desirability bias and amplify the complexity of lived experiences often flattened in clinical or research settings. The work supports researchers and designers in accessing deeper, more honest insights to guide inclusive health innovation.

Faith-Aware Mental Health App for Women

YAQIN delivers mental health support through culturally and faith-sensitive conversation using an AI-powered chatbot. It uses retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and Islamic texts to help users reflect on their experiences and struggles with clarity and confidence. I co-design this app with Muslim women in the UK to show how technology can honour belief systems, support diverse cultures, improve communication in therapy, and rebuild trust in mental healthcare through inclusive, values-driven design.

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Design x Science Toolkit

Sander developed an innovative toolkit for Design x Science collaborations. The toolkit supports early stage idea generation at the fuzzy front end of product innovation processes in the bio-economy. 

AI Co-Design with Practitioners and End-Users

Freya facilitated AI co-design between AI practitioners and non-technical audiences through a card-based toolkit. The card-based AI literacy toolkit to encourage multidisciplinary collaboration between AI practitioners and non-technical audiences.