Mersha Aftab

Dr Mersha Aftab is a Senior Lecturer in Design Management at Birmingham City University, Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, where she also serves as Impact Coordinator for the College. Her role combines teaching design management with leading research initiatives on empathy-driven transformation and human-centred innovation.

Education

• PhD in Design Management, Northumbria University, 2013 – Dissertation: “Design as a functional leader: a case study to investigate the role of design as a potential leading discipline in multinationals”
• MSc in Design Management, Northumbria University, 2010
• Bachelor in Fashion and Information Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology, India, 2006

Research Interests

Dr Aftab’s scholarly work centres on applying empathy to understand users and stakeholders, framing empathy as a critical capability for leading and managing organisational transformation. She employs human-centred design as a connector-integrator methodology that enables multidisciplinary teams to co-create problem definitions and innovative solutions. A key research strand focuses on evidencing the measurable impact of empathy in driving breakthrough innovations within large multinational corporations.

She currently leads the international Design-led Transformation network, convening public, private and higher-education actors to articulate and advance the strategic role of design in transformation. Her externally funded projects explore digital readiness in manufacturing through empathy-led change management.

Industry Collaborations

Her research is deeply embedded in practice, evidenced by collaborations with Philips, Daimler, Nokia, Airbus, Unilever, BT, Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Fire Service, Lego and Sony Ericsson via contract research, knowledge-transfer partnerships and collaborative student projects.

Editorial & Review Service

• Scientific review panel: Journal of Strategic Design Research & Design Management Review
• Reviewer for Routledge Publishing and international conferences: Academic Design Management Conference, Design Research Society Conference, Systems Design Research Conference, European Academy of Design Conference

Grants & Leadership

• Principal Investigator, ESRC-InterAct project “Informing empathy-led change management: Creating a measurable readiness health plan for adopting digital technologies in manufacturing”
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Entrepreneurial Talent Management 3 (GETM3) grant activities at Chonnam National University, South Korea

Dr Aftab also facilitates interdisciplinary, transnational and intergenerational research events, further extending the global reach and societal impact of her work.