Design Research

Dr. Anna Lisa Martin-Niedecken is senior researcher and head of the Institute for Design Research, and is also serving as the deputy director of the Department of Design at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), CH. Furthermore, she is a professor of sports management with a focus on esports and gaming, digital innovation and health at the University of Applied Management (HAM), GER.

Prior to her academic career, Dr. Martin-Niedecken completed a voluntary social year and worked in nursing at St. Josefs Hospital in Wiesbaden, GER. During her studies, she later gained valuable experience as a floater and assistant in various clinical disciplines, including orthopaedics, internal medicine, oncology, emergency room and intensive care unit. She further worked as trainer and head therapist at Kieser Training, Wiesbaden, GER.

She studied Sports Science and Pedagogy at the Technical University of Darmstadt, GER (Magister Artium). Subsequently, she was awarded a scholarship from the German Research Foundation, and actively participated as a researcher in the interdisciplinary Graduate Program "Topology of Technology" at the same university. It was during this period that she laid the groundwork and conducted crucial preliminary research for her distinguished PhD project. Notably, during this time she also spent six months as a visiting researcher at the Sensory-Motor Systems Lab of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich, CH. She completed her PhD (Dr. rer. nat., with distinction) with a specialization in sports science, informatics, movement science, HCI, and Serious Games at the Institute of Sports Science, Technical University of Darmstadt besides holding the position as a Senior Researcher within the Subject Area Game Design at ZHdK, CH.

As a sports scientist, design scientist and HCI researcher, her research and teaching activities span across interdisciplinary domains, with a primary emphasis on advancing the design discipline's role within the healthcare sector, encompassing the entire spectrum from prevention to acute interventions, care, and rehabilitation. She successfully acquired and led numerous interdisciplinary national and national third-party funded R&D projects with renowned partners from academia and industry, continuously publishes the results of her work in internationally prestigious journals and conference proceedings, and gives scientific keynotes, talks and workshops. Furthermore, she teaches modules, mentors and (co-)supervises at BA, MA, CAS and PhD level at several international institutions on her thematic foci. She is also regularly active in international expert and review consortia.

Her extensive interdisciplinary expertise has solidified her reputation as a leading expert in human/user-centered, evidence-based design and evaluation of innovative, digital and technology-based health solutions such as Serious & Applied Games, Exergames, and other digital tools tailored specifically for various applications in the healthcare sector (e.g., sports, fitness, and rehabilitation). Several of the applications have not only yielded valuable scientific insights but also practical solutions that have been successfully transitioned from the laboratory to the field and the market (including a European patent), ultimately benefiting society in meaningful ways.

Moreover, Dr. Martin-Niedecken is the initiator and head of the interdisciplinary "Digital Health Design Living Lab" (funded by DIZH). This pioneering endeavor collaboratively involves the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine at the University of Zurich, the Institute of Public Health at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, as well as eight practice and research partners, including University Hospitals, patient organizations and various healthcare professionals.

Dr. Martin-Niedecken has received numerous prestigious awards for her research and development work, including several Best Paper Awards and the prestigious SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award. She regularly gives talks at renowned events such as TEDxZurich and among other things was named one of "Switzerland’s 100 Digital Shapers" 2020 by the Swiss business magazine Bilanz.

Beyond her academic endeavors, Dr. Martin-Niedecken has demonstrated her entrepreneurial spirit by founding and serving as the CEO of the fitness gaming startup, Sphery Ltd, a ZHdK-spinoff established in 2018. The company has already been awarded several prestigious prizes, including the FIBO Innovation & Trend Awards 2020 and 2021, the German Innovation Award 2020 and the German Design Award 2021.

In 2023, Dr. Martin-Niedecken took on the role of a scientific advisory board at the German Society for Prevention (GPeV), in addition to other advisory activities. She is also a founding member and chair of the International Mixed Reality Sports (XRS) Association (2020) and a founding member and chair of the RAL Quality Association "Serious Games e.V." (2022).


Further information on academic CV and track record on ORCiD.

anna.martin@zhdk.ch