Vesna Popovic

Qualifications

GradEngArch (Belgrade), MFA (ID) (Illinois), PhD (Sydney), FDIA, FDRS (UK), MHFESA, MHFES (USA), MACM/CHI

 

Career History and Biography

Vesna Popovic, PhD is a Professor in Industrial design at the Queensland University of Technology and she is founder of the Industrial Design infrastructure in Brisbane, Queensland. She has worked as corporate and practicing industrial designer and ergonomics/ human factors consultant and was involved in international studies conducted by ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), UNDRO (United Nation Disaster Relief Organisation) and The League of Red Cross Societies. She has a number of realised designs and some of them received significant awards. She is the recipient of various awards (31 awards). She is recipient of ARC Discovery and ARC Linkage grants and is an ARC Discovery Grant Reviewer.

Vesna Popovic is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and Fellow of the Design Research Society (UK). She was the Executive Board Member of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), Education Chair 1997 – 2001 and South Pacific – South East Asia ICSID Region Portfolio Leader (1997-2001). Since 2001 she has been an ICSID adviser. She has been an International corresponding Council Member of the Design Research Society since 2002. She is a Fulbright scholar.

Professional and Group Associations

• Fellow, Design Institute of Australia (DIA)
• Fellow, Design Research Society (DRS), UK
• Member, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia and OZCHI
• Member, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (USA)
• Member, ACM SIG Computer-Human Interaction (USA)

 

Interests and Community Service

• Associate Editor, Design Research Quarterly, DRS, UK
• Reviewer for major design research journals, eg Design Studies, International Journal of Design
• Member of Scientific or Review committees of major national and international Design Research, Design Education and Human-computer Interaction conferences
• Design Juror for Design competition and Design Awards
• International Expert Reviewer of ARC Discovery Grants
• International Council of Society of Industrial Design (ICSID) Adviser
• International corresponding Council Member of the Design Research Society since 2002
• Executive Board Member, International Council of Society of Industrial Design (ICSID) from 1997-2001, Education Chair.

 

Awards and Recognitions

Vesna Popovic has been recipient of significant awards and recognitions totalling 31 awards. Selected awards are listed only.

 

Selected Design Awards

• Finalist (two designs), Design Festival, Osaka, Japan.
• Finalist, Mainichi International Design Competition, Japan.
• Diploma "Good Design", Design Centre, Belgrade.
• International jury selection of the project Rescue Kit for Crushed Limbs, International study: Design for Rescue & Relief, ICSID, Brussels, Belgium
• BI0 8 Good Idea Award, 8th Biennial of Yugoslav Industrial Design, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Honourable Mention, Award of the international jury for the design of the "Kitchen 2000", AS Design Contest, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Professor Vesna Popovic has been pioneering in implementing research as a vehicle for human-centred innovation as applied to complex devices. The research has been conducted within the Human-Centred Research and Useability Domain that has world class research laboratory. The domain is focusing on human interaction with complex devices, context of use, expertise and applied product research focusing on activity and experiences. Professor Popovic leads the domain.

Professor Popovic and the research team have defined the following main research areas.

• Human-centred research and interaction with complex devices
• Expertise and user research
• Applied product design research

 

Human-centred research and interaction with complex devices

I am interested in researching human activity and experiences people have during various levels of interaction. I have been challenged to research ‘activity based’ or ‘activity-centred’ interaction. Within this area, I would like to explore how knowledge and experiences are represented during an interaction and within activities.

 

Expertise and user research

This research aims to provide artifacts designers with more knowledge about the human users of interactive artifacts that they design. It is focusing on researching novice and expert differences during interaction with complex devices. I have been challenged to research and model the transition from a novice to an expert, and what is the minimal knowledge required to achieve an intuitive interaction. I am interested in exploring how artifacts have been used and how the new uses, not yet designed, emerge and how this impacts on expertise and interaction.

 

Applied product design research

This applied research aims to situate artifact design within the social context in order to generate new knowledge and support innovation. The research is situated within the social structure that constitutes people, activity, context and culture where an artifact is positioned to be a mediator for the generation of new knowledge and its application. I am interested in how the knowledge generated from this concept can identify the new strategic direction for design of artifacts, systems and services. I am exploring concept potentials to supports the diversification of innovation within international market. Therefore, I have been investigating the relationships between design and knowledge: design as contributing factor for knowledge integration and knowledge as a resource to support and promote innovation.

 

External Collaborators

Professor Popovic and her research team have collaborated with

• Brisbane Airport Corporation
• University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
• Telehealth, Queensland
• Curtin University of Technology, Australia
• SADI/ Samsung, South Korea
• KAIST, South Korea
• Tsinghua University, China
• University of Botswana, Botswana

Professor Vesna Popovic is the founder of the Industrial Design program at the Queensland University of Technology and Industrial Design professional infrastructure in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Her major responsibility has been the leadership and development of the Industrial Design and setting teaching standards of excellence. In this capacity the main contribution has been in leading the direction of the discipline towards design research and innovation. The vision of the program has been related to the industrial and business settings of Queensland, Australia and South East Asia, where small businesses are dominant. The leadership drive that emerged from applied design research has been utilised by graduates to create their business opportunities in Australia and overseas.

Teaching concentration areas include:

• industrial design studio
• applied industrial design research
• human-centred design and innovation
• applied human factors and usability

Over $1,500.00 dollars in funding has been received to conduct research and commercial research projects.

 

Selected List of Awarded/Pending Grants (External and Internal)

Professor Vesna Popovic in collaboration with the research teams has been granted or applied for funds to conduct the following research projects:

 

Facilitating intuitive interaction with complex devices for older users

Chief Investigators: Dr Alethea Blackler, Prof Vesna Popovic, Dr Douglas Mahar

Funding Sources: Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects (2008-2010)

Older people have difficulties using complex electronic devices, and our research has shown that they use them less intuitively than younger people do. Older people are often not experiencing the benefits of new developments and technologies, and so can feel isolated from modern workplaces and society generally. This project aims to investigate, and build a clear picture of, the relationship between age and intuitive interaction with complex devices, particularly healthcare devices. This picture will inform the development of a tool to guide designers in making complex devices more intuitive for older people to use.

 

Remote patient assessment using digital stethoscope for telehealth systems in Australia

Chief Investigators: A/Prof Raj Gururajan, Prof Vesna Popovic, Dr Donald Kerr

Partner Investigators: Ms Annette Scott, Mr Clint Moloney, Prof C Kesawan (India)

Funding Sources: Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects (2008-2010)

Contributing Partner: Telehealth, Queensland

Health departments in Australia use a significant amount of their budget to assist patients travelling to major centres for assessment prior to surgery or for routine checks. This travel is expensive and disruptive to the patients involved. Digital Stethoscope and associated communications technology offers an alternative for a significant amount of this travel. This project will produce a user friendly, remote patient assessment tool for illness that requires a stethoscope for diagnosis or assessment. Benefits of the project will include incidental learning by remotely located health workers, less disruption to patients and more effective use of the medical professional’s time.

 

Investigation of Compression Bandaging Methods and Nurses Interaction during this Process (pending)

Chief Investigators: Prof Vesna Popovic, Assoc Prof Keryln Carville and Dr Ben Kraal

External Collaboration: Curtin University of Technology and Silver Chain, Perth, WA

Funding Sources: NHMRC 2009-2011 (pending)

This research investigates the way in which nurses interact with patients during the application of compression bandaging. Overall the research aims to gain a better understanding of the methods used in the clinical application of compression bandaging in order to develop improved bandaging techniques and inform clinical practice guidelines. The research investigates, for the first time, the way community nurses interact with patients during the application of compression bandaging in order to identify variations in techniques and nurses’ decision-making rationales. It also aims to identify specific design opportunities.

This research has emerged from QUT Strategic Collaborative Seeding Grant across Science, Health and Engineering Faculties and IHBI (2005-2007)

 

Facilitating Novice to Expert Transition in a Medical Emergency Care Context (pending)

Chief Investigators: Prof Vesna Popovic, Dr Michael Lawley, Dr Paul Barnes, Prof KP Lee (KAIST) and Dr Ben Kraal

External Collaboration: KAIST, South Korea

Funding Sources: Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects (2009-2012) (pending)

During emergencies, the possibilities for confusion are greatest when equipment with poorly designed interface is pressed into service. As a matter of principle, all such interfaces, whether simple or complex, should be designed for ease of understanding and operation and must support quick novice-to-expert transition in life and death situation. An innovative novice-to-expert transitional model developed from this study will allow the design of interfaces that support this faster transition. This will significantly improve communication and efficiency within a medical emergency care context, minimise the potentials of confusion and, subsequently, reduce casualties.

Professor Vesna Popovic in collaboration with research supervisory teams has supervised PhD and Masters (by Research) students. The number of students completed:

• PhD - 4
• Masters (by research) - 14

Vesna has been invited regularly to assess research thesis.

 

Professor Popovic’s students have undertaken the following projects:

Research Topics currently being Supervised:

Utilising Familiarity to Facilitate Intuitive Interaction for Older Adults (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Simon Lawry

Course: PhD

 

Approaches to designing intuitive interaction with complex devices for older adults (Associate Supervisor)

Candidate: Gudur Raghavendra Reddy

Course: PhD

 

Exploring the evolving emotional experience between people and portable interactive devices (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Rafael Gomez

Course: PhD

 

Consumers’ concepts of materials (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Shayne Beaver

Course: PhD

 

Research Topics Completed

User-designer collaboration during the early stage of the product development process (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: JongHo Lee

Course: PhD

Completed: 2008

 

Aging in China and its Impact on Vehicle Design (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Chao Zhao

Course: PhD

Completed: 2008

 

Experience, Context of Use and the Design of Product Usability (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Marianella Chamorro-Koc

Course: PhD

Completed: 2007

 

The impact of Socio-Cultural Factors upon Human-centred Design in Botswana (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Richie Moalosi

Course: PhD

Completed: 2007

 

Intuitive Interaction with Complex Artefacts (Principal Supervisor)

Candidate: Alethea Blackler

Course: PhD

Completed: 2006

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Popovic,_Vesna.html

 

Book Chapters

• Gomez, R., Popovic, V. and Bucolo, S. (in press). Emotional Driving Experiences, in P.M.A. Desmet, M. Karlsson and J. van Erp (Eds.), Design and Emotion.

• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V., Kumar, K. L and Hudson, A. (2007). Product Analysis in Relation to the Socio-cultural Perspective of Botswana, inDesign Education: Tradition and Modernity, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.

• Popovic, V. (2002). Activity and Designing Pleasurable Interaction with Everyday Artifacts, in P. Jordan and W. Green (Eds.), Pleasure with the Use of Products, Taylor & Francis, London, pp. 367–376.

• Popovic, V. (1999). Product Evaluation Methods and Their Importance in Designing Interactive Artifacts, in P. Jordan and W. Green (Eds.), Human Factors in Product Design – Current Practice and Future Trends, Taylor & Francis, London, pp. 26–36.
• Popovic, V. (1996). Design Activity Structural Categories, in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (Eds): Analysing Design Activity, Wiley, Sussex, pp. 211–220.

 

Referred Journal Papers

• Chamorro-Koc, M., Popovic, V. and Emmison, M. (2008). (in press) Human experience and product usability: principles to assist the design of user-product interactions, Applied Ergonomics.
• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V. and Hickling-Hudson, A. (2008). (in press) Culture-orientated Product Design, International Journal of Technology and Design Education.
• Chamorro-Koc, Popovic, V. and Emmison, M. (2008). Using visual representation of concepts to explore users and designers' concepts of everyday products. Design Studies 29(2): pp.142-159.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V. and Mahar, D. (2007). Empirical Investigation into Intuitive Interaction, MMI-Interactive (on line journal).
• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V. and Hudson, A. (2007). Product Analysis Using a Postcolonial Socio-cultural Perspective from Botswana, Int. Journal of Design 1(2), pp.35-45.
• Popovic, V (2004). Expertise Development in Product Design-Strategic and Domain Specific Knowledge Connections, Design Studies 25, pp. 527–545.
• Popovic, V. (2003). Expert and Novice Users Models and their Application to the Design Process, Journal of 6th Asian Design Conference, Tsukuba, Japan (6th ADC Excellent Paper Award).
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V., and Mahar, D. (2003). Designing for Intuitive Use of Products, Journal of 6th Asian Design Conference, Tsukuba, Japan.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V., and Mahar, D. (2003). The Nature of Intuitive Use of Products: an Experimental Approach, Design Studies, Special Issue, pp. 491–506.
• Popovic, V. (2003). General Strategic Knowledge Models and their Interaction with Domain-specific Knowledge in Design, Design Science and Technology Journal, Special Issue, pp. 35-48.

 

Refereed Conference Proceedings Papers

• Popovic, V. and Kraal, B (2008). Focus-shift: Interaction and expertise level, in D. Durling, (Ed.). Proceedings Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference, Sheffield, England.
• Zhao, C. and Popovic, V., Ferreira, L. and Lu, X. (2008). Understanding Older Vehicle Users: An interpretative approach, in D. Durling, (Ed.). Proceedings Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference, Sheffield, England.
• Chamorro-Koc, M. and Popovic, V. (2008). Context-of-use and the design of user-product interactions: exploring causal relationships, in D. Durling, (Ed.). Proceedings Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference, Sheffield, England.
• Zhao, C. and Popovic, V., Ferreira, L. and Lu, X. (2007). Vehicle Design for Elderly Chinese Drivers: a Culture-specific Travel Needs Model, in Proceedings International Association of Societies of Design Research 2007, Hong Kong, China.
• Popovic, V. (2007). Designers’ Search for Relevant Knowledge and the Emergence of Design Innovation, in Proceedings Connected 2007, International Conference on Design Education, Sydney.
• Kraal, B. and Popovic, V. (2007). Looking for Expertise in Physical Interactions, in Proceedings OZCHI 2007 - Australasian Computer-Human Interaction Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
• Popovic, V. (2007). Transition from Object to Activity: Product Design Knowledge Models, in IASDR07 Proceedings, Hong Kong.
• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V. and Hickling-Hudson, A. (2007). Culture-orientated Product Design, in IASDR07 Proceedings, Hong Kong.
• Chamorro-Koc, M., Popovic, V. and Emmison, M. (2007). Experience, Context of Use and the Design of User-Product Interactions, in IASDR07 Proceedings, Honk Kong.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V. and Mahar, D. (2007). Tools for Designing for Intuitive Interaction, IASDR07 Proceedings, Honk Kong.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V., Mahar, D. (2006).Towards a Design Methodology for Applying Intuitive Interaction, in K. Friedman, T. Love and E. Corte-Real (Eds.). Proceedings Design Research Society - Wonderground International Conference 2006, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V. and Hickling-Hudson, A. (2006). Culture: A Source of Product Innovation, in K. Friedman, T. Love and E. Corte-Real (Eds.). Proceedings Design Research Society - Wonderground International Conference 2006, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Lee, JH., Popovic, V. Blackler, A. and Lee, KP (2006). Design for Experiencing and User Involvement in the Product-Services Development Process, in K. Friedman, T. Love and E. Corte-Real (Eds.). Proceedings Design Research Society - Wonderground International Conference 2006, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Moalosi, R., Popovic, V. and Hickling-Hudson, A. (2006). Culture driven product innovation, in D. Marjanovic (Ed.). Proceedings 9th International Design Conference - Design 2006 Volume 1, Dubrovnik, pp. 573-578.
• Gomez, R. Popovic, V. and Bucolo, S. (2006). Emotional Driving Experience: an Opportunity for Future Technology, in M.A. Karlsson, P. Desmet, P. and J.van Erp, (Eds.). Design and Emotion Conference Proceedings, Chalmers University, Göteborg, Sweden.
• Popovic, V. (2005). Applied Research and Innovation Framework, in J. Järvinen, and L. Palmi, L. (Eds.) Joining Forces: Design Research, Industries and New Interface Competiveness Proceedings, University of Arts and Design, Helsinki, Finland.
• Popovic, V. (2005). Building Collaborative Culture between Design Research and Practice through Graduate Education, in 4DED Proceedings, University of Arizona, USA.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V., and Mahar, D. (2005). Intuitive Interaction with Complex Artifacts,in J. Redmond, D. Durling, and A. de Bono (Eds.)Futureground Proceedings, Monash University, Melbourne.
• Chamorro-Koc, M., Popovic, V., and Emmison, M. (2005). Context of Use and User’s Experience: An Exploratory study in Product Design, in J. Redmond, D. Durling, and A. de Bono (Eds.), Futureground Proceedings, Monash University, Melbourne.
• Blackler, A., Popovic, V. and Mahar, D. (2004). Studies of Intuitive Use by Employing Observation and Concurrent Protocol, International Design Conference – Design 2004, Dubrovnik.
• Popovic, V. (2004). Exploring the Relationships between Design and Human Computer Interaction: Design Research Models, CHI 2004 Connect Proceedings, Vienna, Austria.
• Popovic, V. (2003). An Approach to Knowledge Generation by Research and its Utilisation in Practice – Situating Doctoral Research around Artifacts, in: D. Durling and K. Shygoyama (Eds.), 3DED Proceedings, Tsukuba, Japan, pp. 133–143.