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.”  

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