Dr. Deana McDonagh is a professor of industrial design in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also a Health Innovation Professor at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at UIUC, a faculty researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and the founder of the (dis)Ability Design Studio at the Beckman Institute, which supports interdisciplinary design research centered around the lived experiences of people with disabilities. In 2022, McDonagh won the Beckman Institute Vision and Spirit Award for exemplifying excellence and interdisciplinary research collaboration.

As an empathic design research strategist, she focuses on enhancing the quality of life for all through more intuitive and meaningful products, leading to emotional sustainability. Her research concentrates on emotional user-product relationships and how empathy can bring the designer closer to users’ authentic needs, ensuring both functional and emotional needs are met the material landscape.

She is the Designer Entrepreneur-in-Residence (start-up incubator) at the University of Illinois Research Park and the Designer in Residence at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where she provides design guidance.

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Cited By

Year

Review of assistive devices for the prevention of pressure ulcers: an engineering perspective

2023

Low-profile and high-load ball-balancing rolling system

1

2022

The pedagogy of discomfort: Transformational experiential learning

2021

Refining a pedagogical approach for employing design thinking as a catalyst

2021

Mood Boards as a Communication Medium

2021

User centered approach to the supra-functional needs of people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

1

2021

The urban women travelling issue in the twenty-first century

6

2021

Case study: gender equality (SDG5): Ten stages of women’s mobility in Pakistan and Malaysia

2021

Applying a systemic approach to gender transport poverty: Pakistan in context

4

2020

Understanding factors of using public transportation among women in Kuala Lumpur

10

2020

Gender transport inequalities in Malaysia and Pakistan: Barriers to female mobility

2020

Sparks of innovation: transforming challenges into opportunities

2020

Recommendation of the Healthcare System of the Chinese Elderly Group with IoT Technology Based on Responsible Innovation

2020

Design as a catalyst: A pedagogical framework

1

2020

Fostering design literacy, empathy and awareness in codesign

2020

13. Role-Playing Living Lab (RpLL) Method: Increasing Maker Empathy Through User-Generated Content of Role-Playing Activities

2020

Fostering design literacy, empathy and awareness in codesign

2

2020

Experiencing aging: Analogue versus virtual

2020

Ten Stages of Women: Challenges facing women in travel

2020

The Value and Place for Empathy in Designing for Older People

2

2020

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“Not only does this project represent contributions from diverse colleges, but it is truly interdisciplinary in the expertise the collaborators bring to the table."

- Hands-free wheelchair prototype achieves major milestone

“We’re focusing on ability. The studio is designed to welcome members of the disability community as contributors to knowledge.”

- Beckman, DRES collaboration launches (dis)Ability Design Studio

“Have you ever touched something and thought, ‘This feels like it was designed for me?’ In this space, that translates to design that is accessible to all needs and ability levels. Everyone must be able to participate; the ideas thought up by teams that are inclusive, interdisciplinary, and open to flexible thinking can hugely impact this culture.”

- Beckman, DRES collaboration launches (dis)Ability Design Studio

“When we say, ‘all are welcome,’ we really do mean it! If we add something to this space that makes it accessible to anybody, for any reason, even if it’s unconventional, then we’ve succeeded. We’re pursuing the unpursued, in pursuit of good science."

- Beckman, DRES collaboration launches (dis)Ability Design Studio

“Design can save lives because design thinking can save lives."

- Beckman, DRES collaboration launches (dis)Ability Design Studio

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