Umeå Design Research Group carries out studio-based design research in close collaboration with leading industry partners. As an inherently multidisciplinary group most unusual to the academic setting, we nurture our core competences in industrial design, interaction design, Human-Computer Interaction, and design research.
As a design studio, our work is studio-based, human-centered, multi-disciplinary, and collaborative. In a Scandinavian design tradition, our work is closely linked to meeting client challenges as well as end-user needs. With currently eleven full-time employees, Umeå Design Research Group is financed by external funds directly from Swedish industry, including ABB, Volvo Trucks, Umeå Kommun, Ericsson, Autoliv, Telia, and Electrolux. Our clients and collaborators tend to come back, which to us is a sign that we deliver.
As an academic design research group, we make use of our own design studio projects to develop new knowledge and competence in the field of design research. Our aim is to understand, improve, and augment the field of industrial design by having an impact on education, industry, and academia. We publish our work regularly in the leading international journals and conferences in the fields of design research, interaction design, human-computer interaction, and inclusive design.
Taken together, our multiple personality puts Umeå Design Research Group in a unique position. We have the knowledge, the competence, the will and the skills to collaborate, as well as an excellent international network within industry as well as within academia.
For industry, we become an interface towards academic research--for academia, we are a primary gateway to industry.
We carry out a range of different projects, from short workshops focusing on creating innovative solutions to extensive research programs spanning over many years.
