The Design Research Lab is a laboratory for experimental design and research reflecting on the digital society. Through playful interventions, critical making and collaborative reasoning we investigate possible futures. As a platform and network, we are deeply involved with the requirements and policies needed for an inclusive and sustainable development of the digital society from a design perspective.
We are an interdisciplinary team of designers, researchers, tech-enthusiasts and critical thinkers from Berlin University of the Arts, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, as well as Einsteincenter Digital Future (ECDF).
In 2009, after graduating in architecture at Technische Universität München, Jelena decided to pursue an education in industrial design at the same university. During her studies she was working as a freelance designer and researcher for Johnson&Johnson Medical on a tissue regeneration project.
In 2011, she completed a degree in industrial design with great distinction, gaining a M. Sc. She won universal design and consumer favourite award for the product she developed during her master’s thesis on the topic “Design for an Aging Society – Participatory Design Methods for Developing Products with and for People with Dementia”.
In 2012, Jelena joined the Design Research Lab to work on a project that aims to support people with dementia, by helping them navigate through their day. She is currently working on various projects related to health and social innovation.