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College of Design
HCT Design Lab

Human Centric Technology & Design Lab

The Human Centric Technology & Design Lab (HCT Design Lab) applies a human-centered design approach and emerging technologies to promote health and wellness and enhance user experiences, advancing design research and education within the community.

Mission Statement:

Our mission is to advance human-centered technology and design by integrating emerging technologies with a deep understanding of user needs. We prioritize health, wellness, and enhanced user experiences through a holistic, interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes usability studies, user-centered design, and universal design principles. By fostering an inclusive design research and education community, we strive to create innovative solutions that are accessible, functional, and beneficial for all, promoting equitable user experiences across diverse populations. Through rigorous research and collaboration, we aim to shape the future of design for the betterment of society.

Tools and Resources

HCT Design lab is seeking motivated and talented PhD students to join us!

HCT Design lab is seeking motivated and talented PhD students to join us for the upcoming academic year of Fall 2025! Please see below for more details.

Learn more and apply

Leading Faculty

BK
Byungsoo Kim
Byungsoo Kim

Assistant Professor of Industrial Design

YT
Yuanqing Tian
Yuanqing (Ching) Tian, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Industrial Design

PhD Students: Work with HCT Design Lab

HCT Design lab is seeking motivated and talented PhD students to join us for the upcoming academic year of Fall 2025!

What We Offer:

Cutting-edge Research Opportunities: Engage in innovative research projects centered in Human with access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Work alongside experts in Graphic Design, Digital Media, Textile, and Engineering and collaborate with leading researchers in the field.

Professional Development: Opportunities to publish in top-tier journals, present at international conferences, and develop skills including both teaching and research for a successful academic or industry career.

Funding and Support: Competitive funding packages, including tuition waivers and stipends, along with support for conference travel and research expenses.

  • A cover letter detailing your research interests and motivation for joining our lab.
  • A latest CV, including your educational background, research experience, and highlights of your academic accomplishments.
  • A portfolio (website URL or PDF) demonstrating your design and research projects and skillsets. The work should align with our lab’s focus on applying a human-centered design approach and emerging technologies to promote health and wellness, and enhance user experiences. 
  • For more information and application submission, please visit our website at https://design.ncsu.edu/phd-in-design/.
  • A strong academic background in Design related disciplines. Applicants must hold a Master’s degree.
  • Academic Transcripts (both Undergraduate & Graduate): Minimum GPA of 3.0
  • For International students only: English language proficiency shown through completion of one of the following testing methods:
    • TOEFL (minimum score of at least 80)
    • IELTS (overall band score of at least 6.5)
    • Duolingo (score of 110 or better)
  • GRE scores are not required
  • Research experience including human-centered design, universal design, wearable technology, user experience design, etc.
  • Strong design and research skills including sketch, CAD/3D modeling, UI and UX design, Data Analysis, User research methods, etc.
  • Excellent analytical, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
  • Strong self-motivated, responsible, curious, and passionate in academic and scientific research.

Scholarly Work

  • Kim, B., & Park, J. (September, 2020). Online Collaboration for Interdisciplinarity: A Journey towards Interdisciplinarity in Design Research from Doctoral Design Students [Workshop]. Digitally Engaged Learning Conference. [peer-reviewed].
  • Park, S., Tian, Y., NIOSH. “Next-Generation Custom-Fit Reusable Respiratory Protective Device with Continuous Fit Monitoring.” May 9th, 2022, ISRP.
  • Tian, Y. “Parametric Design Method for Personalized Bras”. May 10th, 2020, AHFE 2020, San Diego, CA
  • Tian, Y. “Towards Mass Customization: Parametric Design for Custom-fit Wearables” June 16th, 2023, New Technology & Design Lecture Series, School of Design, Hunan University, China
  • Ball, R., Tian. Y., Wang. H., 3D scanning and Parametric Design for Custom-fit Development for Google Smart Glasses. December 9th to 12th, 2019, Google Faculty Research Award. Googleplex, Mountain View, CA
  • Song, F. et.al. “Framing Seamlessness Workshop – Enhancing Future Multimodal Interaction from Physical to Virtual Spaces.”, November 5th, 2023, ACM ISS, Pittsburgh, PA (Tian, Y host and guide for group discussion and brainstorming workshop on “Seamless Interaction Design for Virtual Reality”)
  • Tian, Y., & Ball, R. (2024). U.S. Patent 18/828,669. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Filed).
  • Kim, B. (2023). Chapter 17: Changing interfaces in and around the contemporary house. In K. Guler (Ed.), Transforming Issues in Housing Design (1st ed., pp. 233-243). Wiley. ISBN-10: 1119857163. Publication date: December 12, 2023. 
  • Tian, Y., & Ball, R. (2022). Parametric Design Method for Personalized Bras. In Soares, M.M., Rebelo, F., & Ahram, T.Z. (Eds.). (2022). Handbook of Usability and User-Experience: Research and Case Studies (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429343513 
  • Kirchmer, K., & Kim, B. (2024). Dynamics of disciplines: Understanding task-level experiences in interdisciplinary collaborative design studio education. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACSA/EAAE Teachers Conference: Educating the Cosmopolitan Architect (pp. 166-173). Reykjavik, Iceland: ACSA.
  • Kim, B., & Gregorio, H. (August, 2023). Enhancing Industrial Design Education Through Studio-Lecture Collaboration [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA. 
  • Lin, C., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Study of Ai-Driven Furniture Design Process [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA. 
  • Gregorio, H., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Design Entrepreneurship: Identifying the Essential Skills for Industrial Design Students to Become Entrepreneurs. In Industrial Designers Society of America Education Paper. 
  • Doffing, B., Garrett, G., & Kim, B. (September, 2023). Integrating Smart Textiles in Automotive: Application of Upholstery in Vehicle Interiors for Their Development into the Third Living/Workspace. In Industrial Designers Society of America Education Paper. 
  • Hilk, T., Sencenbaugh, A., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Reduction of Food Waste in Grocery Stores in Rural America: Reducing Food Waste at Retail Stores—an Explorative Study [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA. 
  • Sustaita-Delgado, L., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Early Childhood Development Toys for Visually Impaired: Guidelines for Designing an Enjoyable Toy for Visually Impaired Children with the Goal of Aiding in Various Areas of their Early Childhood Development. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA. 
  • Tarwater, I., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Sustainable Materials in Outdoor Gear Design: An Investigation of the Future of Alternative Textiles in Outdoor Gear Design [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA.
  • Kim, B., & Lewis, K. (May, 2023). Creating a Transformative Experience in the First Year of Study for Beginning Design Studio Online [Paper presentation]. AMPS: Transformative Teaching. 
  • McDermott, D., & Kim, B. (September, 2022). Artificial Intelligence, Music Therapy, and the Fight against Mental Illness [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, Seattle, USA. 
  • Roles, K., & Kim, B. (September, 2022). Creative Burnout: Suffocating the Future of Design [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, Seattle, USA.  
  • Kim, B., & Gregorio, H. (June, 2022). An analysis of master’s in industrial design theses at U.S. land-grant universities: A systematic literature review [Paper presentation]. Design Research Society, Bilbao, Spain.  
  • Lewis, K., & Kim, B. (April, 2022). First-Year Design Students’ Readiness to be in Different Disciplines: An Investigation of the Skill Readiness and Preparedness for the Coming Years of Study [Paper presentation]. In Proceedings of the 37th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Muncie, Indiana.  
  • Park, J., Yoon, Y., & Kim, B. (March, 2022). A Systematic Literature Review of Ph.D. in Design Dissertations: A Case Study at North Carolina State University [Paper presentation]. ARCC-EAAE 2022 International Conference.  
  • Kim, B., & Panda, P. (2021). Data Visualizations for Interdisciplinary Communication in HFE. In Advances in Industrial Design: Proceedings of the AHFE 2021 Virtual Conferences on Design for Inclusion, Affective and Pleasurable Design, Interdisciplinary Practice in Industrial Design, Kansei Engineering, and Human Factors for Apparel and Textile Engineering, July 25-29, 2021, USA (pp. 3-10). Springer International Publishing.
  • Panda, P., Kim, B., Behnam-Asl, S., & Sener, E. (2021, December). Immersive Analytics: A User-Centered Perspective. In Proceedings of the 27th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (pp. 1-3).
  • Kim, B., & Joines, S. (2019). The role of design in technology driven ergonomics product development. In Advances in Ergonomics in Design: Proceedings of the AHFE 2019 International Conference on Ergonomics in Design, July 24-28, 2019, Washington DC, USA 10 (pp. 3-14). Springer International Publishing.
  • Kim, B., Liu, H., & Joines, S. (2019, November). A wearable intervention for laptop users. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 1188-1193). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
  • Kim, B., Liu, H., & Joines, S. (August, 2015). Designing for Empathy: Research Expanding Aging Experience Suit for Educational Purposes [Paper presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, Seattle, USA.  
  • Tian, Y., Li, L., & Ball, R. (2024). A Qualitative Study for Parametric Designed Custom-Fit Eyewear Frames: Fit Test Evaluation and User Insights. In A. Marcus, E. Rosenzweig, & M. M. Soares (Eds.), Design, User Experience, and Usability (pp. 354–370). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61351-7_25
  • Marks, L., Tian, Y., & Ball, R. (2023). Teaching Inclusive Design Using Parametric Design Methods. Learn X Design Conference Series.https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/learnxdesign/learnxdesign2023/casestudy/16
  • Tian, Y., & Ball, R. (2020). Parametric Design Method for Personalized Bras. In F. Rebelo & M. Soares (Eds.), Advances in Ergonomics in Design (pp. 145–151). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51038-1_21
  • Song, F., Wang, W., Lin, H., & Tian, Y. (2022). A framework for designing the seamless automotive multimodal experience in future connected and autonomous vehicles. DRS Biennial Conference Series. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2022/researchpapers/11
  • Liu, H., Kim, B., & Joines, S. (2023). Collaborative Writing in the Intelligence Community: Investigation of Analytic Collaborative Reporting Processes and Writing Strategies. International Journal of e-Collaboration.
  • Kim, B., Joines, S., & Feng, J. (2023). Technology-Driven Design Process: Teaching and Mentoring Technology-Driven Design Process in Industrial Design Education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 1-35.        
  • Park, J., Kim, B., Lee, B., Traci, R., & Hands, D. (2019). Interdisciplinarity of Ph.D. students across the Atlantic: A Case of Interdisciplinary Research Team Building. The Design Journal, 22, 1453-1466.
  • Kim, B., Joines, S., Feng, J., & Flinchum, R. (2018). Usability Study to Improve Interaction Design for Drivers in Car-Sharing Systems. Journal of Usability Study, 13(4), 220-247.
  • Tian, Y., & Ball, R. (2023). Parametric design for custom-fit eyewear frames. Heliyon, 9(9), e19946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19946
  • Park, S., Tian, Y., Bergman, M., Pollard, J., Zhuang, Z., & Jayaraman, S. (2024). Next-Generation Custom-Fit Reusable Respiratory Protective Device with Continuous Fit Monitoring – Part I: Custom-Fit Design. Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection, 41, 22-37.
  • Park, S., Tian, Y., Bergman, M., Pollard, J., Zhuang, Z., & Jayaraman, S. (2024). Next-Generation Custom-Fit Reusable Respiratory Protective Device with Continuous Fit Monitoring – Part II: Continuous Fit Monitoring. Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection, 41, 38–56.
  • Park, S., Tian, Y., NIOSH., (2023). Next-Generation Custom-Fit Reusable Respiratory Protective Device with Continuous Fit Monitoring – Part 3: 3D Printing of Prototypes and Evaluation, Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection (In Press)
  • Kim, B., & Gregorio, H. (August, 2023). Enhancing Industrial Design Education Through Studio-Lecture Collaboration [Poster presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA.  
  • Tarwater, I., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Sustainable Materials in Outdoor Gear Design: An Investigation of the Future of Alternative Textiles in Outdoor Gear Design [Poster presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA.  
  • Hilk, T., Sencenbaugh, A., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Reduction of Food Waste in Grocery Stores in Rural America: Reducing Food Waste at Retail Stores—an Explorative Study [Poster presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA.  
  • Sustaita-Delgado, L., & Kim, B. (August, 2023). Early Childhood Development Toys for Visually Impaired: Guidelines for Designing an Enjoyable Toy for Visually Impaired Children with the Goal of Aiding in Various Areas of their Early Childhood Development [Poster presentation]. Industrial Designers Society of America Education Symposium, New York, USA. 
  • Panda, P., Kim, B., Sener, E., & Asl, S. (October, 2021). A User-Centered Survey of Immersive Analytics: Preliminary Results [Poster presentation]. IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS).
  • Yi, C., Park, J., & Kim, B. (June, 2020). Interdisciplinary research team workshop: bottom-up approach [Paper presentation]. 12th Annual International Science of Team Science Conference, Durham, USA.  
  • Park, J., Kim, B., Yi, C., & Joines, S. (April, 2020). Evaluating a Workshop for Interdisciplinarity in Environmental Design Research [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 51st Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Conference, Tempe, USA.  
  • Kim, B., Park, J., Yi, C., & Joines, S. (February, 2020). Workshop of Interdisciplinary Research Team Building [Paper presentation]. 2020 KSEA-NC Interdisciplinary Research Conference, Raleigh, USA.
  • Kim, B., Joines, S., Feng, J., & Flinchum, R. (September, 2018). Car Interaction Design for Car-Sharing Systems [Paper presentation]. 10th International ACM Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, Toronto, Canada.  
  • Kim, B., & Joines, S. (March, 2018). The Use of a Wearable Intervention for Laptop Users [Paper presentation]. 12th International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, Barcelona, Spain.  
  • Roles, K., & Kim, B. (December, 2022). Creative Burnout: Suffocating the Future of Design. Innovation Magazine, (Winter 2022), 34-39.
  • Kim, B., & Joines, S. (2018). Universal design for unfamiliar environments. Content of Design for All Institute of India, January 2018 Vol-13 No-1, 48.