University of Sydney Design Lab


Design Lab, formerly the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, is a teaching and research centre of the University's School of Architecture, Design and Planning, established in 1968. The aim of the centre is to apply human-centred design to products, services and systems.
which was founded in 1968 by John Gero to research computers in design as a way of modeling and understanding designing. In 2007, after the departure of its co-directors John Gero and Mary Lou Maher, it changed its name to the Design Lab. During the intervening years its ambit grew to embrace teaching. The KCDC’s research is founded on the use of a scientific approach to the development of models, theories and methods to understand designs and designing.

Naming history

The KCDC from 1968-2007 had four overlapping foci in its design research:
The Key Centre was very active in organizing conferences and workshops as a means of both creating a research community and producing a broader impact.