Gilbert Cockton
Emeritus Professor
Gilbert was Professor of Design Theory in the School of Design from January 2016 to February 2019, when he retired as Emeritus Professor.
With degrees in History, Education and Computer Science and a NESTA fellowship in Design, Gilbert had a good grounding for almost four decades of interdisciplinary work in HCI and Interaction Design. He has mostly worked in university computing and design (Heriot-Watt, Glasgow, Sunderland, Northumbria, visiting posts at Newcastle, Glasgow, UCLAN and TU/e), with periods in industry (MARI R&D, Microsoft), extensive consultancy work and a period of flexible work including childcare.
Gilbert’s research interests lie at the intersection of research into, for and through Interaction Design, co-developing and assessing novel design approaches and resources, especially in support of worth foci, user research, narratives, learning spaces and integrated evaluation practices. His Balanced, Integrated and Generous (BIG) paradigm for design seeks to combine the strengths of creative, engineering and human-centred design in ways that neutralise their individual weaknesses.
He is now drawing his pension and typing up loose ends on PhD students, writing and ACM Interactions magazine. He drops into Co-Create a few times each month.
Gilbert’s Publications
See an up to date list of Gilbert’s publications on the Northumbria University Research Portal and Google Scholar.

Gilbert’s projects

Enabling Self-Administered Healthcare Technology

Experts in Rebellion