Mersha Aftab

Dr Mersha Aftab’s research expertise is in applying empathy to understand users, stakeholders and people, and her teaching encourages learners to be equal partners in creating inclusive, engaging and transformative experiences. She has experience using human-centred design as a connector integrator, supporting different disciplines to co-create an understanding of problems and developing solutions. An important strand of her research is the impact of empathy in leading, managing and supporting transformations. She has published in leading national and international design research conferences and journals and has used design to create meaningful and impactful change within organisations such as Philips, Soil Machine Dynamics, and Unilever. She currently leads a Design-led Transformation Network, which brings together the public, private and higher education sectors to discuss and articulate the role of design in transformation.