Peter Desmet

Pieter Desmet (PhD) is professor of Design for Experience and head of the Human-Centered Design Department at Delft University in The Netherlands. His research aims to increase our understanding of why and how design evokes emotion, and how it can contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities. He supervises a research group that studies various aspects of user experience, and is director of the Delft Institute of Positive Design, an initiative to stimulate the development of knowledge that supports designers in their attempts to design for human flourishing.
Pieter is partner of the research and design consultancy Emotion Studio and chairs the International Design & Emotion Society. He organised more than ten international academic conferences on the topic of design for experience and wellbeing in, for example, Hong Kong, Bogota, Chicago, and London. He published over 150 scientific (journal) papers, book chapters, and books on a variety of aspects of experience-driven design, reaching an audience of both scholars and practitioners.
Besides his research, he contributes to local community projects, such as sensory wellness neighbourhood parks, and a cultural Rotterdam-based “House of Happiness.”