Design Informatics Seminar Series: Iryna Kuksa
Reclaiming Personalisation: Design Interventions for a Sustainable Future
In this talk, Iryna will discuss the evolution of personalisation from an emancipatory response to industrial standardisation into a multifaceted, AI-enabled mechanism that drives unsustainable consumption patterns. She will propose alternative pathways forward by arguing that the same technological infrastructure currently driving overconsumption could be repurposed to address it – but only through deliberate design intervention, robust regulatory frameworks, and fundamental shifts in how we conceptualise the relationship between personalisation, consumption, and sustainability. This transformation requires simultaneous technical innovation, business model re-design, policy intervention, and ethical re-orientation. By focusing on the fashion industry as a case study, Iryna charts pathways for redirecting personalisation from consumption driver to sustainability enabler, addressing urgent challenges in climate action, circular economy, and ethical AI deployment.
EVENT DETAILS
Iryna Kuksa [in-person]
Senior Research Fellow and a Lead of Design Research in Nottingham School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University
Talk Title: Reclaiming Personalisation: Design Interventions for a Sustainable Future
Date: Thurs 5 March, 2026
Time: 16:00-17:00
Location: Inspace, 1 Crichton St, EH8 9AB
PRESENTER BIO
Iryna Kuksa
Dr Iryna Kuksa is a Senior Research Fellow and a Lead of Design Research in Nottingham School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University. She is a cross-disciplinary design researcher with a background in industrial design and specialism in sustainable innovation through ethical AI and human-centred technology. Her work focuses on using design as a tool for addressing pressing societal challenges at the intersection of technology, consumption, and climate change. As the founder of the Design for Personalisation research field and pioneer of ‘Green Personalisation’ terminology, Iryna focuses on re-designing AI-driven personalisation systems from engines of overconsumption into catalysts for sustainable behaviour change and social equity. As an AHRC Innovation Scholar in Design, Iryna works with the strategic design consultancy Nile on implementation of the Consumer Duty regulations and ethical AI adoption across UK’s financial services, demonstrating how academic insights can transform industry practice while generating new knowledge about ethical innovation processes.
