Tara Mullaney

Tara Mullaney 2 PhD in industrial design (2016)
E-mail: tara.mullaney@gmail.com
Phone: +46 73 827 87 45
Mobile: +46 70 254 5457
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/taramullaney
Website: www.taramullaney.com

Background

I am a researcher and designer who works across disciplines and platforms to create user experiences that imagine possible futures while remaining grounded by research insights. I hail from the United States, and hold dual bachelor degrees in anthropology and biology from MIT, a Master of Science in Cancer Biology from Stanford University, and a Master of Design in Designed Objects from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In the spring of 2016, I defended my Ph.D. thesis in Industrial Design: Thinking Beyond the Cure: A constructive design reserach investigation into the patient experience of Radiotherapy. During my five years of PhD studies at UID, I also taught and tutored classes in Service Design and Interaction Concept Design, as well as MFA degree projects in Interaction Design.

PhD project

My research focused on investigating the patient experience within healthcare, with the aim of increasing patient knowledge, participation, and power within these environments, paying particular attention to the impact that large medical technologies have upon patients. My main PhD research project, conducted in collaboration with the Radiotherapy Clinic at Norrlands University Hospital Cancer Center, focused around how the design of healthcare products, services, and spaces impacts the emotional wellbeing of the patients that interact with them.