Maria Emília Capucho Duarte

Maria Emília Capucho Duarte is an Associate Professor of Ergonomics at IADE, Universidade Europeia in Lisbon, Portugal. She currently serves as the Director of UNIDCOM – IADE's Research Unit in Design and Communication, and coordinates both the Master in Interaction Design and the Ph.D. in Design programs at IADE. Her academic career spans multiple institutions within the Portuguese higher education system, with a strong focus on the application of ergonomics principles to design disciplines.

Her educational background includes a B.A. in Product Design from IADE (1994), a Master's degree in Ergonomics in Occupational Safety (2006), and a Ph.D. in Human Kinetics with specialization in Ergonomics (2011) from the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. Her academic journey demonstrates a clear progression from design practice to research-focused ergonomics applications.

Dr. Duarte's research interests center around Ergonomics in Design, Emotional Design, Virtual Reality applications, Warnings and Safety Communications, and Interaction Design/User Experience. Her work explores how cognitive ergonomics principles can be applied to enhance user safety, experience, and comprehension through thoughtful design solutions. Particularly notable is her focus on how virtual environments can be leveraged to test and improve safety communications and user interfaces across diverse populations.

Her publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to the field of ergonomics and design, with a particular emphasis on virtual reality applications for safety and user experience research. The trends in her work show increasing sophistication in virtual environment design for research purposes, expanding applications to healthcare contexts, and growing attention to inclusive design principles that address diverse user populations including children, elderly users, and individuals with disabilities.

• 2018 Universidade Europeia Researcher Award
• 2017 HERE FOR GOOD Award from Laureate International Universities (L3 – Lisbon community-based Learning Laboratory project)
• 2016 Best Paper Award for the 5th International Conference on Design, User Experience and Usability (HCI International 2016)
• 2013 IADE Research and Teaching Award
• 2007 Honorable mention in João Branco design research award

Dr. Duarte has supervised numerous doctoral and master's students across various design disciplines. Her mentoring approach emphasizes the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical applications, particularly through the use of virtual reality methodologies. She has guided students in research areas including healthcare interface design, safety communications, emotional design, and the application of virtual environments to design education.

As Director of UNIDCOM – IADE's Research Unit in Design and Communication, Dr. Duarte leads a multidisciplinary team focused on advancing design research with particular emphasis on user-centered approaches. The unit serves as a hub for collaborative research projects that bridge academic inquiry with practical design applications across various sectors including healthcare, safety communications, and educational technology.