Notification: The Neurodesign Group is currently operating at a reduced capacity following Dr. Julia von Thienen's transition to new professional roles in 2024. Despite this, the team remains actively engaged, continuing research on a voluntary basis. Our email address remains unchanged. We invite you to stay connected: Reach out, share ideas, follow updates, and send proposals. We look forward to continuing the exploration of this fascinating domain together!

About

Advancing Engineering Innovation

Neurodesign promotes the development of meaningful engineering innovations. This involves creating novel solutions that are ethically sound and desirable, addressing fundamental human needs. These solutions consider human psychology and physiology, ensuring that technological advancements are not only functional, but also aligned with who we are and what we need as humans. To achieve this, it is crucial to study both technology and the human dimensions of its development and use.

Example: Neuroscientific research shows that effective teamwork is supported by the synchronization of physiological states among team members. When brain waves, heart rates, and skin conductance align, team performance improves. A key factor driving such synchronization is joint, coordinated physical movement. However, current technologies for remote work, such as videoconferencing systems, tend to immobilize users. For instance, remote colleagues cannot exchange objects like pencils or drinks, nor do they engage in shared physical activities like walking to a meeting room or cafeteria. Consequently, remote work technologies often fail to address fundamental needs for physical coordination as a basis for intensified interpersonal connections. Enhancing these technologies to enable some form of shared physical motion and coordinated interaction over distance can help teams find a common "wavelength" and improve collaborative performance.

Beyond Engineering: Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation

Beyond fostering engineering innovation, neurodesign also seeks to deepen our understanding of creativity, collaboration, and innovation. As a branch of design thinking, neurodesign emphasizes ethically sound, human- or planet-centered innovation, encouraging radical collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. It leverages digital engineering tools (e.g., automated measurements, machine learning) alongside insights from neuroscience, biology, and psychology to explore and elucidate these phenomena.

A Global Initiative

Neurodesign is a growing field uniting universities and research labs internationally. At the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) of Potsdam University, it is taught and practiced within the Digital Engineering Faculty, home to the HPI School of Design Thinking and HPI Academy. Other notable neurodesign centers include that of Stanford University.