Birmingham Institute of Art and Design: Research

Birmingham Design Research Group

Group Coordinator: Kathryn Burns

Members:
Kathryn Burns, Dr Richard Coles, Dr. Sue Dawes, Dr. Colin Gale, Marlene Little, Dr. David Prytherch, Dr. Mark Smith, Prof. Richard Snell, Panch Suntharalingham, Cynthia Weaver

Students:
Shane Walker, Rafael Ignacio Lacruz-Rengel, Panchalingam Suntharalingham, Robert Potter, Rebecca Russell-Turner, Mohamad Hariri Abdullah, Saiful Bahari Mohd Yusoff, David Heap, Manxian Zhan, Yada Chavalkul, Koraklod Kumsook

Birmingham Design Research Group (BDRG) is concerned with a range of applied, strategic & scholastic research, consultancy and speculative design projects that involve human factors in the configuration, technology and manufacture of consumer and capital products.

The group's approach is interdisciplinary and user-focussed; its audiences are consumers, manufacturers, service industries, designers and academics.

Design of Products- Product design is a key element in successful innovation and the group has been associated with successful projects in, for example:

Internationally adopted orchestral seating
Space-efficient studio and educational furniture
Software development, testing and evaluation (industrial & e-learning applications)
Digital media and interactions
Automotive accessories for European and Japanese 4x4 vehicles
Leisure wear and children's clothing
Design practice and international subject development in Fashion and Textiles

Design guidelines and effective design practice models have been developed for HCI, patient-centred medical equipment, systems-operated products and mobility aids and packaging for third-age users.

Design and Analysis - Design advantage in innovation, increasingly relies on competitor and prototype analysis in consumer response. However design is also always measured by its consumption and associated value. Current work includes:

The study of innovation, risk and design capacity
Global trends in design-related legislation and standards
Continuing professional development for managers and designers
Social and cultural issues in regional product development
New modes of contracted work place learning in design education
Human Computer Interaction and usability

We are committed to the systematic observation of design in its application to a variety of fields. The belief that Design Research represents routes to valuable debate and scholarship is central to Birmingham Design Research Group.

Theoretical approaches to product analyses and product design process analyses have been developed in BDRG publications for conferences, workshops and a variety of learned journals. Members of the group are also linked to The Design Research Society, the Design Council, British Computer Society HCI Group, Usability Professional's Association.

Research: BIADResearch@bcu.ac.uk

BIAD, Birmingham City University, Gosta Green, Birmingham B4 7DX

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design - Research

Birmingham Design Research Group