Latest news from Loughborough University
9 Jul 2015
Successfully designing for happiness
Loughborough Design School lecturer Dr Carolina Escobar Tello was amongst the speakers at the WebVisions Barcelona event earlier this month.
Described as “the creative conference for the Web”, WebVisions events are held across Europe and the US.
They provide designers, developers and industry leaders with the opportunity to explore the future of design, content creation, user experience and business strategy in an arena that inspires learning, collaboration and entrepreneurism.
The three-day event – held at IED Barcelona – comprised a range of workshops and sessions led by leading design experts including – Gastón Lisak, Mona Patel and Stefan Sagmeister.
Key to the WebVisions’ ethos is establishing how “hacking happiness” can improve design – and change organisations and communities across the globe.
Hence, Dr Carolina’s Escobar Tello’s invitation to lead a conference workshop entitled “Design for Happiness and Sustainable Societies”.
Her research promotes the widespread adoption of sustainable design practices to help improve our lifestyle and enhance our happiness.
In 2013, she won an UnLtd HE Social Entrepreneurship Award for her design framework and toolkit – Design for Happiness (DfH) – the basis of her company, Riant by Design, and has been supported by Loughborough Design School throughout her journey.
The company provides workshops to a range of organisations including community groups and businesses “to share ideas and enable the design of happier and more sustainable lifestyles”.
Dr Excobar Tello says: “Evidence suggests that although, on the whole, western societies have grown richer over the past 60 years, happiness and well-being, environmental and social capital, and sustainable lifestyles have declined.
“I believe that design can fundamentally improve our quality of life, and welcomed the chance to introduce my ideas, DfH toolkit and company to delegates at the WebVisions Barcelona. Workshop participants commented that they found it refreshing to learn new approaches to design that really matters.”
Notes for editors
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015.Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.