Skip navigation

Prof Joyce Sheau Roei Yee

Professor

Department: Northumbria School of Design

I am a design researcher, author and designer in the areas of design and social innovation, service design and interaction design.I am a Professor of Design and Social Innovation at Northumbria School of Design. I hold a BFA in Graphic Design, an MA in Visual Communication and a PhD in Design. I lead the subject development in the school at various undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels. I primarily teach undergraduate Interaction Design students and supervise a number of doctoral students in the subject of service design, design and social innovation and emergent interaction design practices.

My research focuses on the role, value and impact of design in organisational context. Specifically, I am interested in the ways design is used to support, enable and drive change through the creation of innovative practices in organisations. I was the lead investigator for the Valuing Design project, an AHRC funded research that identified and mapped the impact and value of design in public and voluntary and community sector organisations. Building on this work, my 2017 book, Transformations: 7 Roles to Drive Change by Design introduces 7 roles that design play in driving change in organisations. This book builds on a previous book, Design Transitions (2013) that explored how design practices are changing and identified a key requirement for designers to externalise their approaches and demonstrate value beyond design in service innovation projects. 

Extending my interest in design in social spaces, I co-founded the Designing Social Innovation in Asia-Pacific network (www.desiap.org) with Yoko Akama at RMIT, Australia. DESIAP (previously funded by the AHRC Research Network grant) is a research platform, a community of practice, and a network for collaboration and ongoing knowledge sharing for various practitioners, researchers, communities, and professionals working in the Social Innovation space in the UK and the Asia-Pacific region. I also co-founded the inaugural Research Through Design (RTD) conference with Jayne Wallace as an experimental conference series for disseminating practice-based design research.

Campus Address

Squires Annexe, Room 108
City Campus
Newcastle
NE1 8ST

Joyce’s research focuses on the role, value and impact of design in organisational context. Specifically, she is interested in the ways design is used to support, enable and drive change through the creation of innovative practices in organisations. She was the lead investigator for the Valuing Design project, an AHRC funded research that identified and mapped the impact and value of design in public and voluntary and community sector organisations. Building on this work, she published a book, Transformations which introduces 7 roles that design play in driving change in organisations. Her previous book, Design Transitions explored how design practices are changing and identified a key requirement for designers to externalise their approaches and demonstrate value beyond design in service innovation projects. Extending her interest in design in social spaces, she co-founded the Designing Social Innovation in Asia-Pacific network (www.desiap.org) with Yoko Akama. DESIAP (funded in 2015 by the AHRC Research Network grant) is a research platform, a community of practice, and a network for collaboration and ongoing knowledge sharing for various practitioners, researchers, communities, and professionals working in the Social Innovation space in the UK and the Asia-Pacific region.

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Before the Tech Bit: Observations on the Workings of a Scottish Community Fridge, Kiden, S., Strohmayer, A., Yee, J. 8 Jan 2023, The 2023 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP '23) Companion, New York, ACM
  • Being a Sociable Designer: Reimagining the Role of Designers in Social Innovation, Tjahja, C., Yee, J. 2022, In: CoDesign
  • Enacting plurality in designing social innovation: Developing a culturally grounded twenty-first-century leadership programme for a Cambodian context, Yee, J., Srun, S., Smitheman, L. 19 Dec 2022, Artistic Cartography and Design Explorations Towards the Pluriverse, New York, US, Taylor & Francis
  • Being community and culturally-led: Tensions and pluralities in evaluating social innovation, Yee, J., Akama, Y., Teerapong, K. 22 Dec 2020, ServDes.2020, Linköping, Linkoping University Electronic Press
  • Creative and Cultural Districts in Thailand, Yee, J., Akama, Y., Teerapong, K., Petrella, V. 25 Sep 2020
  • Mutuality and reciprocity: foregrounding relationships in Design and Social Innovation, Petrella, V., Yee, J., Clarke, R. 20 Sep 2020, Proceedings of DRS2020 International Conference, Vol. 2: Impacts, London, Loughborough University
  • T-Shifting Identities and Practices: Interaction Designers in the Fourth Industrial Age, Steane, J., Briggs, J., Yee, J. 31 Dec 2020, In: International Journal of Design
  • Impact and Evaluation in Designing Social Innovation: Insights from the DESIAP KL Workshop and Symposium, Akama, Y., Yee, J., Hill, R., Tjahja, C. 20 Apr 2019
  • Special Issue: Embracing Plurality in Designing Social Innovation Practices, Akama, Y., Yee, J. 1 Mar 2019, In: Design and Culture

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Creative and Cultural Districts in Thailand, Yee, J. (Principal Investigator), British Council, 29/08/19 - 28/02/20, £39,723.00
  • CLEAR (Cambodian Leadership Excellence and Responsibility), Yee, J. (Principal Investigator), Impact Hub Phnom Penh, 01/07/18 - 31/01/19, £4,033.00
  • Design for Social Innovation Research Network: Bridging the UK and Asia-Pacific Practices, Yee, J. (Principal Investigator), Arts & Humanities Research Council, 01/04/16 - 31/03/17, 0.00
  • Valuing Design from Multiple Perspectives, Yee, J. (Principal Investigator), Arts & Humanities Research Council, 03/03/14 - 02/09/14, £46,780.00

  • Viola Petrella The role and value of relationships in Design and Social Innovation: insights from Asia Pacific contexts Start Date: 01/10/2018 End Date: 07/03/2023
  • Anthony Forsyth The Design of Poetic Things Start Date: 12/11/2013 End Date: 18/11/2020
  • Kiersten Hay Growing Forward Together: Exploring the Design of Social Support Interventions alongside Women Living with HIV in the UK Start Date: 11/06/2020 End Date: 19/11/2022
  • Katie Hill Place in social design Surfacing and working with characteristics of place in social design Start Date: 18/01/2021
  • Sarah Kiden Explorations Towards Designing Trustworthy Internet of Things with Communities Start Date: 19/11/2020
  • Christopher Wilson Post-digital Letterpress Practice: Integrating Digital Manufacturing Tools with Letterpress Printing Start Date: 01/04/2014 End Date: 04/03/2023
  • David Parkinson Developing an Understanding of Storytelling at the Design Pitch: Relating Approach to Impact Start Date: 20/09/2010 End Date: 25/03/2015
  • Mark Green Design interventions: Revealing, initiating and sustaining communities of design practice within organisations Start Date: 23/03/2016 End Date: 10/11/2017
  • Cyril Tjahja Reorienting and Sustaining Design and Social Innovation: Insights from Asia-Pacific Practices Start Date: 01/10/2015 End Date: 04/03/2020

Design Studies PhD September 01 2003


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

NU World
+

Explore NU World

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

Crime scene
Sustainable condenser tumble dryers
View of the countryside from Richmond, London. People on green grass field near lake during daytime
The Crypt at Newcastle Cathedral
Event aims to connect academic knowledge and policy makers
More news
More events

Upcoming events

Grow Your Own – How To Attract, Develop and Retain a Talented Team.
The Building Safety Act and its Implications

Back to top