The Institute for Design Informatics (IDI) brings design and data together to create a world that is socially just, where people live well, have agency and autonomy, and are able to adapt and transition how they live to ensure the planet flourishes. We seek to have a transformational impact on society by creating alternatives to dominant models of technology design and development, and to shape ethical and responsible data futures through applied research and practice.

IDI’s motto – design for, with and by data – reflects how we look at design and data from different perspectives:

1. We design research products, prototypes and experiences that are underpinned by data and enable new data interactions;
2. We create new methods and techniques that use data in design processes in innovative ways;
3. We look at the agency, autonomy and power of data in how we design systems and experience the world.

Our researchers work with a wide range of technologies, including artificial intelligence (generative AI, LLMs, agentic systems), robotics (social robots, soft robotics and responsive materials), decentralised systems (blockchain, distributed ledgers, non-fungible tokens) and more. We explore and examine these technologies from a range of design-led, participatory, speculative, and human-centred perspectives. As a large institute, we work across a wide range of topical areas – including: care and wellbeing technologies; creativity and creative industries; critical data studies; data visualisation; digital humanities; money and finance; technology regulation and policy; robots and assistive technologies; and sustainable systems.

Case studies

Creative Informatics case study: Breaking new ground with ethically sourced audio AI: DataMind Audio and the development of the Combobulator 

IDI’s Creative Informatics programme (2018-2024), funded by AHRC, SFC, DDI and DCMS, worked with creatives across Edinburgh and South East Scotland to develop their practice through data driven innovation through R&D funding for 130 projects, training and support.

A full case study is available on the Creative Informatics website. Find out more at https://datamindaudio.ai/. Read more about Creative Informatics here.

IDI Care and Communities research:  Supporting Healthy Ageing at Work

Supporting Healthy Ageing at Work (SHAW) (2021-24), was a large scale interdisciplinary project funded by UKRI Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme. The project aimed to address an increasingly urgent need to find ways to support work in mid-to-later life in response to significant demographic shifts in the UK and globally. 

Follow the project via the SHAW page on the Design Informatics website.

Our work is supported by a wide range of funding agencies and external partners. Some examples of current large projects include our involvement in the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s CoSTAR and Responsible AI programmes (BRAID). We also lead the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Centre in Designing Responsible Natural Language Processing. 

We have strong partnerships with non-academic bodies, including Microsoft Research, BBC R&D, National Library of Scotland, aberdeen, NatWest, and many more. We’re heavily connected to Edinburgh’s “Data Driven Innovation Hubs” – such as the Bayes Centre (where we are physically based), the Edinburgh Futures Institute, and the National Robotarium. We also work with local artists, creatives and SMEs, particularly through our custodianship of Inspace, an exhibition, public engagement and events space for technology and data through creative approaches, design thinking and interdisciplinary research.