Nicole Vickery

Dr Nicole Vickery is a Lecturer in Visual Communication at the School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Her work focuses on designing playful experiences to enhance health and wellbeing, particularly through tangible technologies for children and intergenerational interaction. She received her PhD from QUT in 2019, examining how videogames facilitate cognitive flow, and subsequently worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on the project ‘Enabling Children’s Active Play using Novel Technology’.

Her research explores the intersection of playful design, child-computer interaction, and cultural studies of play. Key interests include:

• Developing tangible interfaces for active play in children
• Designing intergenerational digital experiences
• Using games to foster empathy and social connection
• Ecological dimensions of play through ‘more-than-human’ frameworks

Vickery's publications (2019-2025) demonstrate a consistent focus on embodied interaction, game design, and child development. Recent work emphasizes tangible technologies for nature play, neurodiversity-inclusive games, and pandemic-era digital play. Methodologically, she employs scoping reviews, case studies, and experimental prototypes to advance design justice and participatory approaches.

She leads significant grants including the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP240102717 (‘Designing Distanced Intergenerational Interaction with Tangible Technology’) and contributes to the 2024 Alastair Swayn Design Strategy Grant (‘Making Memories Visible: Design for Meaningful Engagement in Residential Aged Care’).