Research and Outreach

This project aims to support subjective well-being (SWB) in design education by involving students and faculty in co-designing ‘good practices’ to improve design students’ SWB. Recognizing the critical need for student success, well-being, belonging, and cultural competence, this project also integrates the arts into pedagogy. By exploring current practices within the College of Design at Georgia Tech, co-creating with students and faculty, and experimenting with new approaches in a specialized elective course, we aim to support teaching and learning initiatives targeting the understanding, expression, and improvement of students’ SWB. The expected impact includes long-term benefits across the College of Design through the dissemination of a ‘good practices’ guidebook.

This group of projects focuses on the intersection of design and healthcare within healthcare systems, emphasizing user-centered approaches to improving patient experiences. It explores various facets of design for health and well-being, including the development of services for cognitively impaired patients, pediatric oncology patients and their families, and individuals with visual impairments. Through a combination of real-world case studies in public teaching hospitals and NGOs, the research aims to inform better design practices and strategies that enhance patient care and well-being.

Engaging in social activities can mitigate cognitive decline, but they must extend beyond face-to-face interactions to foster the development of social networks (SNs). SNs are chains of interactions that reveal people’s bonds. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is likely to negatively influence the development of SNs as it is challenging to deal with group interactions. The built environment (BE) can facilitate interactions within SNs. However, its specific role and significance in facilitating interactions among individuals with MCI, as well as the key elements to prioritize in the design of therapeutic spaces, represent an under-investigated research avenue. This project addresses this gap, offering practical and theoretical implications. The project’s main objective is to evaluate the impact of the BE of therapeutic spaces on the development of SNs among individuals with MCI. The research design uses a mixed-methods approach, employing quantitative and qualitative behavioral observations.

This study explores the application of social network analysis (SNA) to optimize workspace layouts to enhance resilience in healthcare teams. Currently being conducted at a large tertiary care hospital, the research aims to redesign the work environment for three hospital services—rapid response, medical on-call, and nursing supervision. The project focuses on understanding how social interactions influence team performance and cohesion, particularly those related to key resilience abilities (monitor, anticipate, respond, and learn). Using a three-stage process, the team gathers data on these interactions, creates sociograms to visualize relationships, and proposes workspace layouts based on network metrics. These layouts are then evaluated to identify optimal spatial distribution, ensuring improved resilience across shifts. By integrating spatial design and shift allocation strategies, the study seeks to enhance the hospital’s ability to respond to crises and maintain operational effectiveness, ultimately providing a workspace design model that fosters individual and team resilience in healthcare environments.