Dr Rafiq Elmansy

Profile

I'm a Lecturer in Graphic Digital and Communication Design and a book author with more than nine years of academic teaching and supervising students at undergraduate, postgraduate, and postgraduate research (PhD) levels. I contributed to developing several design programmes at three universities: The American University in Cairo, Northumbria University and Wrexham Glyndwr University. These programmes included Graphic Design, Design Management and Luxury Brand Management.

I hold a PhD in Design from Northumbria University, focusing on the role of design thinking in improving patient adherence to self-administered treatment health technology. As a result of this research, I developed the Adherence Canvas, a tool for companies to measure the consideration of adherence during the product development process. Also, I hold a MA in Design Management with Distinction from Staffordshire University. My dissertation focused on identifying the barriers facing SMEs working in Egypt's creative sector.

My teaching involves a wide range of design subjects, including graphic design, digital design, design thinking, UX/UI design, design management, design process, design strategy, design innovation, and branding. My teaching philosophy is based on a reflective practice approach informed by search-led teaching and teaching-led research strategies.

My current research focuses on design for health and how to implement it to empower patients and improve their experience. In particular, my research focuses on improving patient adherence, self-administered health technology, and evidence-based design. I've worked with several organisations and companies, including but not limited to the NHS, BCUHB (NHS North Wales), NIHR, AHSN, and CPI.

I'm a published author of several digital design and technology books for many publishers, such as John Wiley, Taylor and Francis, and Elsevier. My books and article were translated into several languages. Also, I'm the founder of Designorate.com, a website to teach design and design thinking tools for innovation.

Before joining academia, I had 20 years of experience in the design industry, working on several design projects with a client portfolio including the UN, World Bank, Middle Eastern governments and universities.

For several years, I worked closely with Adobe as Adobe Educational Leader, working to improve creative education through technology. I have also been a jury board member in several international design competitions, including the A' Design Award, Poster for Tomorrow and Adobe Design Achievement Award (ADAA).

Responsibilities

• MA Design Programme Leader
• Design Management Module Leader
• CEPD Academic Hub Lead

Research interests

Design for Health

My current research focuses on empowering patients through design. This involves adopting the design to improve patient adherence to health technology, especially in self-administered interventions in chronic diseases.

Evidence-Based Design

As part of my research in design for health, my research interest is in evidence-based design and how to integrate design practice into evidence-based medical practice.

Design Thinking

My broader research focuses on the applications of design thinking theories in practice and how to integrate them inside companies, especially SMEs, to drive innovation.

Design for Behaviour Change

My research interest includes applying design thinking and behavioural design in wide fields including healthcare.

Post-graduate Supervision

Robert Jones, thesis: The Optimisation of Operations & Maintenance Management Strategies within the Wind Power Sector through Artificial Intelligence  (External, Chester University)

Publications

Elmansy, R. and English, S. (2022). Implementing Evidence-Based Design to Improve Adherence in Self-Administered Treatment Technology. DMI: ADMC. 497-520.

English, S. and Elmansy, R. (2022). Designing for patient empowerment: The application of multiple perspective problem framing in the development of Noctura 400 sleep mask. DMI: ADMC. 133-146.

Elmansy, R. and English, S. (2021). Improving Adherence in Self-Administered Treatment Technology Through Design. European Healthcare Design 2021 Congress. Online. http://bit.ly/AdherenceCPoster

English, S. and Elmansy, R. (2021). Designing for patient empowerment in the face of SARS-Covid-19 challenges: Noctura 400 case study. European Healthcare Design 2021 Congress. Online. http://bit.ly/Noctura400

Elmansy, R. (2021). Exploring the role of design thinking in improving patient adherence to self-administered treatment technology. Doctoral thesis. Northumbria University.

English, S. and Elmansy, R. (2021). [REF 2021] Designing for Patient Empowerment: Noctura 400 Case Study. Available from: https://noctura.com/news/. [Accessed on: 30th June 2021]

Elmansy, R. (expected 2021) The Art of Design Thinking. New York NY: Taylor & Francis.

Elmansy, R. (2015). Barriers Facing Design and Creativity in Middle East SMEs. Design Management Review. 26 (4) p.16.

Elmansy, R. (2015) Designing the 3D-Printed Prosthetic Hand. Design Management Review. 26 (1).

Elmansy, R. (2010) 3D in Photoshop for Animators. New York NY: Taylor & Francis.

Elmansy, R. (2011) 3D in Photoshop for Animators (Japanese version). Tokyo: Born Digital.

Elmansy, R. (2011) Quick Guide to Flash Catalyst. New York NY: O’Reilly Media.

Elmansy, R. (2012) Illustrator Foundations: The Art of Vector Graphics. New York NY: Taylor & Francis.

Elmansy, R. (2013) Teach Yourself Visually Search Engine Optimization. Indianapolis: John Wiley.

Qualifications

• PhD in Design
• MA Design Management

Professional memberships

• Fellow, Higher Education Academy
• Fellow, Royal Society of the Arts
• Member, Design Research Society
• Member, Adobe Educational Leaders

Current postgraduate researchers

• Yunlu Liu