Dr. Sarah Baker
Programme Coordinator (Postgraduate Design) and Head of Research
Sarah has 15 years teaching and research experience in design and cultural studies. Her research expertise is focused on design methodologies including UX design, critical design and ethics, systems thinking and speculative futures. She has a particular interest in design and inequality, specifically gendered aspects of design.
"Our postgraduate programs will be reducing the theory-practice gap by fostering stronger collaboration between students, researchers, and industry practitioners.”
Prior to working at Media Design School, Sarah lectured in Design Culture + Context at Victoria University of Wellington. Before she moved to New Zealand, she lectured in media and cultural studies at Middlesex University and the University of East London. She also worked in arts marketing and was involved in a number of major exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery, London.
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Courses Taught:
Postgraduate Design:
Contemporary Design Issue: Creative Futures
Design and Economies
Design Research: Connecting Texts, Deciphering Contexts
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Research Interests:
Design methodologies including UX design, critical design and systems thinking.
Design futures and the ethics of new technologies.
Service design and experience design.
Design and gender.
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Research/Industry Projects:
Sarah’s most recent project, ‘Design Feminist Futures’, considers why the outcomes of user-centred design and speculative design often reproduce gender norms. She is currently working on a book that explores feminist design methodologies, as well as a feminist design toolkit to be used in participatory workshops.
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Notable Research Outputs:
Baker, S.E. (2018) ‘Post-work Futures and Full Automation: Towards a Feminist Design Methodology’. Open Cultural Studies. De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/culture.2018.2.issue-1/culture-2018-0049/culture-2018-0049.xml
Baker, S.E. (2016) ‘A Glamorous Feminism by Design?’ Cultural Studies. Taylor and Francis.
Baker, S.E. and Crowe, V. (2014) Moodbank. An interactive critical design. Funded by Victoria University of Wellington, Urban Dream Brokerage and the Public Art Fund. https://torrens.figshare.com/articles/Moodbank_How_do_you_feel_and_what_is_it_worth_/7380032
Baker, S.E. (2013) Retro Style: Class, Gender and Design in the Home. Bloomsbury, London.
Website: drsarahelsiebaker.com
Contact - sarah.baker@mediadesignschool.com