With MAKEAWARE! approaching its final phase, this workshop opens the space to reflect on the challenges and insights arising from the collection and use of data in design practices, especially within healthcare settings.
“Design Perspectives on Digital Healthcare” is a conversation-based event that brings together five leading experts in design research, working at the intersection of participatory practices, data ethics, and health.

Organised by the Interaction Design Unit at the Institute of Design (IDe), SUPSI, it marks the concluding moment of the MAKEAWARE! research project. Through short presentations and an open dialogue format, the invited speakers will share their work and perspectives, fostering a collective discussion on the ethical, methodological, and practical implications of designing within sensitive settings.

MAKEAWARE! is an initiative developed at the Institute Design of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland starting in 2022 and planned to end in 2025. Its mission is to engage citizens and empower patients in the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through grassroots co-creation of data and information. By employing hands-on and data-driven activities, MAKEAWARE! fosters participation and raises awareness of AMR-related issues.
The MAKEAWARE! initiative is one of four subprojects within SPEARHEAD, an Innosuisse-funded project that brings together a consortium of eight public and four private Swiss institutions to combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). SPEARHEAD—Swiss Pandemic & AMR Health Economy Awareness Detect—is based on a multidisciplinary research-driven approach that integrates digital solutions with a patient-centric approach, focusing on antimicrobial stewardship and prevention.

[download the flyer]

Arthi Manohar is a Senior Lecturer and Director of BSc Product Design at Brunel Design School. Her research explores the intersection of social design and technology, with a focus on participatory and user-centered design. Arthi’s work addresses complex socio-digital challenges, from designing for trust to embedding human values in digital systems. She is also an active contributor to the HCI research community and serves as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Leas for the Brunel Design School.

Aylin Yildirim Tschoepe is a design anthropologist, founder of metaLAB (at) Basel, and professor at the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW. With a background spanning anthropology, architecture, gender and urban studies, her work bridges disciplines to explore themes such as care, migration, posthuman collaboration, and urban transformation. As head of research in designXsciences, she leads collaborative projects at the intersection of design, technology, life and social sciences. She also edits the Urban Anthropology Unbound series, championing experimental and multimodal ethnographic approaches.

Laura Ferrarello is a Design Researcher and Academic. She teaches at the EPFL Doctoral School the course “The Practice of Ethics in Engineering Research and Practice. Her work explores how design can foster dialogue between technology, society, and the environment, with a focus on ethics, governance, and complexity. Previously, she led the Master in Design Research at the Royal College of Art. Laura’s practice uses design as a tool for systemic change, promoting ethical innovation through dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Teresa Almeida is an Assistant Professor at Técnico University of Lisbon and a research member at the Interactive Technologies Institute/LARSyS. Her interdisciplinary, design-led research explores human-data interaction and social justice informatics, with a focus on intimate data and marginalised communities. Drawing from human-computer interaction (HCI), feminist social and technology studies (STS), and craft-based practices, she creates interventions that blend materiality, interaction, and technology to reimagine inclusive futures.

Paulina Yurmane is a Research Fellow, designer and lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London. She is the recipient of a Wellcome research grant for her 4-year long project Maternal Machines: Design Speculations about Fantasies of Care, which investigates future imaginaries of maternal and infant care and looks to identify opportunities for wellbeing. Her research blends critical design with speculative methods to question and reimagine our relationships with technology. Her work often critically explores how we live with design and technology in everyday life.

Sara Levati is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Nursing Science at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). With a background in nursing, her teaching and research focus on developing solutions for effective home-based care, designing interventions to improve patient health and well-being, and integrating advanced technologies into home care to optimize service delivery. An experienced qualitative researcher, she leads interdisciplinary projects with a strong emphasis on user involvement.

Program chairs: Serena Cangiano, project leader and senior research associate at SUPSI Design Institute and Ginevra Terenghi, doctoral student at SUPSI and Brunel University.

June 4th, 2025
H 14:00 - 17:30

DACD Library (room A1.18-19)
University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)
Via Flora Ruchat-Roncati 15
Mendrisio - CH

Participation is free and open to anyone interested in data ethics, participatory design, and the evolving role of design in healthcare.
No registration is required.
If you need more details, get in touch at makeaware.ide@supsi.ch