Alex King, Pui Yuk - PhD. Inclusive Design
PhD Researcher
Alex KING
Alex King is a Professional Designer and has worked extensively in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He holds a Bachelor degree in Product Design and MBA in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is specializing in inclusive design, computer aided industrial design, product design development and design management. Alex received 15 international design awards during his past 10 years in creative industry. In 2010, he obtained a Silver Prize from International OPUS Optical Design competition where design applicants came from more than 50 countries. He is keen on product design in the field of telecommunication and had run his own business in China before he decided to return to Hong Kong and started his academic career. In 2008, Alex served as a team leader in developing a series of mobile phones for older persons that the designs have been widely accepted by European market. Alex has worked with multi-national clients include PCCW, Oregon Scientific, Switel, Sanyo and Motorola.
Alex has substantial experience in teaching. He teaches bachelor and higher diploma courses in tertiary institutions including the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) and the Hong Kong Design Institute, and committed to contributing and promoting creative industry in Hong Kong. He has served as judging panels in International Young Artist Contest and Hong Kong Footwear Design Competition in 2009. In addition, he was invited to serve as a Subject Officer on behalf of the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) in Creative Industry Discipline of CreateHK, HKSAR in 2013.
Alex joined the School of Design, PolyU in 2015 as a part-time PhD student. His research will focus on inclusive design for elderly living.
Research Title
Universal Product Design for Elderly Living: A Comparative Case Study of User Behaviour between Elderly Living Alone and in Residential Care Homes in Hong Kong
Supervisor
Prof. Kin Wai Michael SIU (Chief Supervisor)
About the Research
Loneliness can also cause depression and loss of meaning in life. Older persons may face some identical problems in their daily life usually not easily recognized by their family members. The situation will get worse and worse especially when they lived alone without any substantial support in their regular activities or they are living in residential care homes that sometimes this kind of places are not well designed and equipped.
The research aims to explore, generate, and identify directions for designing an user-friendly and universal environment for the older persons who are living alone or in residential care homes. It will also generate new knowledge and experience for the understanding of the proposed topic of user behaviour between elderly living alone and in residential care homes. Some specific objectives are to identify the deficiencies of current public housing in terms of ergonomics focus, and to enhance the scope of inclusive product design research involving older persons so that a theoretical system examining ergonomics and user behaviour can be found.
There may be a number of difficulties arose over the past decade, most of them are associated with age-related declines in sensory, perceptual, cognitive and communication abilities. The study proposes to identify the discrepancies of difficulties between older persons in residential care homes and living alone so as to provide relevant data findings and analysis in different aspects for older persons involving living alone in Asian countries.
Study: Ph.D
Study mode: Part Time
Hometown: Hong Kong
