I have a BSc in Psychology and Social Biology with an MSc in Ergonomics from UCL. My PhD concerned an investigation of the use of ergonomics in automotive concept design acquired from Loughborough University while I was a Daphne Jackson Research Fellow. Most of my research has been located within design departments, looking at applying user-centred design to wicked problems in the areas of health, education, regeneration and transportation.

I have been awarded grants in excess of £15 million since I came to Coventry University in 1999, mainly from RCUK and in collaboration with UK and European partners. These have included research on the design of polysensory school environments for children with ASD, an analysis of the involvement of children in the redesign of schools as part of the Building Schools for the Future Programme, the use of social networking by informal groups, the spontaneous, voluntary contributions of citizens to urban regeneration (VoiceYourView), and the development of a patient held record system (MyCare).

I have worked with the former HDTI on two projects developing a user testing toolkit for SMEs (IDEAL-ALIP project) and a decision support system for SMEs moving into the assistive technology market (COMODAL).

I am now engaged in primarily transport related research as theme lead for Future Cities in the Research Institute in Transport and Future Cities. This has included looking at the in car safety and security of female car occupants, an analysis of HMI of electric vehicles, a stakeholder analysis of an electric bus, and a review of social transport.

I led the FP7 project METPEX to successful conclusion in 2016, which concerned the development of a Pan European tool to measure the quality of multimodal, end to end passenger experiences.

Currently I lead the H2020CIVITAS SUITS project, which will run for 4 years, and has 23 partners across EU. Our aim is to increase the capacity and capability of small to medium local authorities to design and implement sustainable transport measures.

I am also PI on a small grant from the Frank Jackson Foundation looking at ways to encourage transport design and engineering students to be empathic in consideration of older transport users. I am also about to commence an 18 month AHRC network bid looking at women’s mobility problems in Malaysia and Pakistan

Driving my research is the belief that applying systems-thinking and user-centred design principles drawn from ergonomics and design research can be applied to, and solve many of the societal grand challenges we face today. In this, the key for greater inclusion and recognition of the needs and contributions of all sectors of society is paramount. This requires the development and application of inclusive methods to understand these needs, in depth understanding of real people in their everyday context, and a willingness on the part of stakeholders (such as designers, municipalities and agencies) to use this information in the application and development of inclusive approaches, systems and products.