profile
Michaela is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Twente in the Human Media Interaction group. She has a background in social sciences and media art & design, and pursued a PhD in design-oriented Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the University of Southern Denmark in Kolding. Michaela collected experiences in teaching interaction design and user experience (UX) research as part of the HCI group at Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany, for around ten years.
In addition to her work in academia, Michaela has been involved in performing arts projects for about twenty years, mainly as an artistic designer and creative technologist. Working closely with performance artists and choreographers has certainly influenced her work in HCI and her approach to design.
research
Michaela's research interests lie in playful interaction design for everyone, UX design beyond screen-based applications, age-appropriate design for children, wearable and intimate technologies, more-than-human and embodied design methodologies. As a postdoc at the University of Twente, Michaela is now involved in a research project that investigates how smart technologies mediate our relationships with ourselves, other humans, and our environment. A particular focus thereby is on vulnerable groups and their empowerment with/ through technologies.