Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Games for change, social good and wellbeing
- Games Design, Gamification and player experience (e.g., player agency, emerging storytelling)
- Human behaviour and Interface Design (e.g. rituals, gestures, mental models, values)
- Participatory design and co-design methodologies
- Data-driven design (e.g., data visualisation, sensors, wearables)
Research projects
Active projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Vanissa Wanick is a Senior Lecturer in Interaction Design at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton.
Vanissa Wanick holds a PhD in design from the University of Southampton, MBA in Marketing from University Federal Fluminense (UFF), and a BA in Design from PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Currently, she teaches games design thinking methods and innovative applications of user experience design. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Her research interests are multidisciplinary and include Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), data-driven design, games design, creativity and diversity, design innovation, gamification, emerging technologies, games for behaviour change and sustainable consumer behaviour across cultures.
Vanissa has more than 10 years of international experience in digital design and user experience design, working as a designer for several companies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Vanissa has also published more than 20 papers in the area of games design, gamification, user interface design, brand experience, VR/AR/XR, cross-cultural design and engagement. She is a Women in Games Ambassador and board member of the Serious Games Society. She has also collaborated with leading conferences in her field such as CHIPlay, Graphica, GALA Conf and SBGames.