Prof. dr. P.P.M. Hekkert (Paul)

Professor  
Industrial Design Engineering 

Biography

Dr. Paul Hekkert is full professor of form theory and research coordinator of the school. Within the department of Industrial Design, he chairs the section design aesthetics and supervises a research group carrying out research on our sense perception and (emotional) experience of products [see: http://studiolab.io.tudelft.nl/dfe/]. He has published on product experience and aesthetics in major international journals and is co-editor of “Design and Emotion: The experience of everyday things” [2004] and “Product experience” [2008]. Paul is co-founder and chairman of the Design and Emotion society [www.designandemotion.org] and has co-organized six consecutive international Design & Emotion conferences. Together with his colleague and designer prof. van Dijk, he also developed an interaction-centred design approach, called Vision in Product design (ViP) that is widely applied in both education and industry. They presently work on a book in which this approach is laid down. Paul serves as a member of the editorial boards of The Design Journal, Empirical Studies of the Arts, and the International Journal of Design.

Education

• 1995
  PhD dissertation, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Title: Artful Judgements
• 1988
  Drs. (equivalent to MSc) in Human Movement Science, Free University, Amsterdam

Experience

• Since 2003
  Full professor of Form Theory, Department of Industrial Design, Delft University of Technology
• 1998 - 2003
  Associate Professor of Design, Department of Industrial Design, Delft University of Technology
• 1995 - 1998
  Assistant Professor of Design, Department of Design Aesthetics, Delft University of Technology
• 1993 - 1995
  PhD-position, Section Form Theory, Department of Design Aesthetics, Delft University of Technology
• 1991 - 1993
  Researcher, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Free University, Amsterdam
• 1990
  Research Assistant, Department of Child and Youth Psychology, Free University, Amsterdam

On an irregular basis Paul works together with companies and design firms on conceptual design & innovation projects based on a design for experience strategy and/or Vision in Product design approach (e.g. Schiphol, Proctor & Gamble, Rijksmuseum, KVD, Fabrique).

Specialisation / field of research

1. Product experience, general
2. Aesthetics, visual and cross-sensory
3. Figurative meaning; product expression
4. Design methods; vision in design; design for social change

Lectures and/or coaches students on:

1. Visual aesthetics
2. Product experience/ Design and Emotion
3. Vision in Product design (ViP approach)
4. Reflection on designing

On a regular basis Paul teaches these subjects at other national (e.g. EURIB, University of Twente) and international (design) schools (e.g. METU, Ankara; Hong Kong PolyU; University of Vienna; Technical University Berlin).
Over the years Paul has given many invited and keynote lectures at international events (e.g. 4^th D&E Conference, Ankara; Hong Kong Design Centre June conference, Hong Kong; P&G seminar, Cincinatti; ICSID conference, ERA seminar on education, Lund; 1^st KEER conference, Sapporo).

Publications

Click here for an overview of my publications.