Alanna Drury
Design is a fundamentally human endeavour that dominates how we interact with and experience the world. This research explores how care ethics could inform design education and practice, moving beyond a focus solely on technical skill to foster responsibility, relationality, and care. Through analysis of theoretical literature, comparative multidisciplinary workshops with healthcare professionals and creatives and the development of reflective tools, this work exposes gaps in design's ethical awareness.
Ethics, a term from the Greek ethos meaning character, refers to the principles that distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and the values that shape human behaviours. In philosophy, ethics involves how individuals should strive to act and why. In this research, ethics is considered not as an abstract ideal but as a crucial consideration of responsibility and relationality, particularly relevant for the modern designer, who often functions as a facilitator of connection, to allow them to recognise and respond to the impact of their decisions on others. This framing aligns with the concept of care ethics, which shifts moral reasoning from rules and outcomes to attentiveness, responsiveness, and interconnectedness.
Some initial outcomes of this research to date include a toolkit for individuals (students, educators, practitioners) to engage with, and a proposed addition to the third-level design curriculum in Ireland, seeking to embed care ethics and responsibility as a key pillar of creative arts education, fostering designers who are attentive, responsible, and moral.
My name is Alanna. I’m a Design Researcher & Visual Communication Designer. I help to create accessible, experience‑based design interventions that elevate unheard voices and support meaningful improvements in systems. I continue to support and consult across education, design research, creative arts, culture, and film, delivering thoughtful visual communication, care‑focused design, and concept development. I hold a BA in Visual Communications Design and an MA in Design for Change, specialising in ethical design strategies.
