Farewell to Mark Kobine, Design Informatics Technician!
In 2019 when Design Informatics moved into the Bayes Centre Annex and Design Informatics evolved from being a Centre into an Institute, a new phase began including the establishing a large workshop to support teaching, research activities and Inspace creative programme.
Mark Kobine, Design Informatics Technician, having been with the Institute since its inception in 2013, led on the development of this facility, building it into the unique resource it is today, which supports a wide range of physical fabrication and prototyping work across the Institute, Edinburgh College of Art and broader University of Edinburgh communities. This takes on many forms, enabling a range of techniques including laser cutting, 3D printing, woodworking, physical computing, coding, hardware hacking and digital making.
After over 13 years with the Institute, we are very sad to announce that Mark Kobine is hanging up his overalls. His energy (and wit) will be sorely missed, but before he departs, we wanted to ask him one last time to share what he has learned and discovered across his time with the Design Informatics community.
Design Informatics is a field combining data science with design thinking in a context of critical enquiry to create compelling and meaningful new data-driven experiences, products and services.1 It is this central premise, that data is a medium for design, that sits at the heart of the Institute which supports teaching, research and through Inspace engages communities.
Here is what Mark had to share about what he has found most interesting, exciting and challenging about Design Informatics. This includes his experience of hands-on design methods and prototyping processes, some insights into common misconceptions and we also sneakily asked him to share some parting advice from his over a decade of experience…
Go nuts, mess up, have fun!
Interview with Mark Kobine, interviewed by Miriam Walsh.
7 June, 2026
Can you tell me about your experience working across Design and Informatics for over a decade and what from your perspective are the fundamentals for practicing within this area?
It has been enormous fun working in Design Informatics for the last 13 years. There can be few other places where you could be asked to create wearable computing, generative architecture, interactive data visualisations and physicalisations, installations, exhibitions and robots all before lunch.
The best part of working in this area is the vast breadth and variety of projects. ‘Computer Science’, software, electronics, data are raw materials to work with and treating them like traditional materials allows familiar design methods and approaches to be applied. The key is not to fetishise these ‘materials’, rather to realise they are there to serve the needs of the design.
Also, vital to practising in this area is to remember the universal design rules. Be designerly, be open and be endlessly curious (easier said than done). Cultivate broad interests and experience in design, art, wider culture and the world beyond and always remember that Design comes before Informatics.
When talking about design processes, prototyping and iteration are often cited as vital parts of the process. Do you have any words of wisdom to share about what this process looks like for you and would you agree with this emphasis?
Prototyping and iteration are utterly critical. Throttle the urge to “do it once and get it perfect first time”, that fantasy never happens.
Design is standing in a workshop tearing up £50 notes. Mostly while pulling your hair out and crying. The lightest, most elegant designs require the greatest amount of effort and seemingly unending prototyping and iteration.
Design is similar to writing in that it is all in the editing, the refining of the message, the endless polishing and obsession with detail.
Poor design often feels like it has been forced into being. The best designs are effortless and light as though they have simply revealed themselves. Prototyping and iteration are essential to achieving this.
What do you think are some of the most common misconceptions about how the design process is perceived vs how it actually works based on your experience?
Design is a heavy word lightly thrown. We all use the word, mostly without ever interrogating its meaning.
The Double Diamond2 has gone a way to giving us a simple model to think about design but like all models it is a conceit, albeit a useful one. The Double Diamond should be rotated through 90 degrees as in practise we do all 4 phases of the model simultaneously just to varying degrees. This makes for a messy, ugly model, unlike the Double Diamond, but a more realistic representation of a design project much like how the London Tube map compares with a topographic map of the station locations.
And finally, since you are hanging up your overalls as Design Informatics Technician, is there any parting advice you would give those starting out on their own Design Informatics journey?
Go nuts, mess up.
Think like a 4 year old.
Take creative risks, create dangerously.
See the problem as it is not as how you think it is. Many problems are problems of thinking. Blind Drawing and Deep Observation can reveal this.
Sketch everything and hoard notebooks. Those notebooks hold the solutions to future projects.
Never, ever, ever give up.
Have fun. If it isn’t fun, make it fun. If you can’t make it fun do something else.
Finally, never take any advice from me, make your own.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark for all his support, enthusiasm and inspiration across the years! His absence will be felt and he is leaving very big shoes to fill, but we have no doubt the legacy of his work and his parting words will continue to inspire future generations of the Design Informatics community.
