Deaa Bataineh
“... we designers have more to offer than only fulfilling the needs of business to make more profit.”
Founder of the design and visual communication department at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Deaa Bataineh taught design for nearly eight years. With a Masters in advertising design, he built a career in brand consultation, management, and creation before joining the PhD program in design at IIT ID.
His current PhD research focuses on the intersection of everyday infrastructures and digital platforms. A case study for such intersections can be found in the 2021 sustainable solution workshop’s final report focused on Chicago’s fines and fees: Reimagining the Resident Government Relationship. In this report, Carlos, Deaa, and other PhD candidates took a solution-oriented approach to imagining new systems that could solve the city’s complex issues and inequalities through collective intelligence, civic infrastructures, and community empowerment.
What drove you to pursue a PhD in design?
I was mainly driven by frustration of how we designers are practicing design – design that is centered around profits. That was the main motivation. And I always thought, and still think, that we designers have more to offer than only fulfilling the needs of business to make more profit.
What is good design?
In simple language, good design is ethical. Good design is sustainable. Good design takes care of us.
What does your research currently focus on?
Part of what I'm researching is the issue of complex spaces, innovation and how we're building digital capabilities within infrastructure. With Carlos’ support, we are now starting to formulate these research projects. And my work is building upon the precedence of the [ID] students who were here before me.
What is bad design?
Bad design, for me, harms both humans and nonhuman living forms of life.