The School of Art and Design - Faculty Calendar

Industrial Design Visiting Critic 
Sheng-Hung Lee
Designing Longevity Futures: Tangible and Virtual Artifacts as Epistemic Interventions

Wednesday, March 11, 10:00 am | ADB 331

Abstract:
This talk explores whether longevity can be designed by shifting the focus from decision making to longevity envisioning—generating and reflecting on future selves in the face of ambiguity. Drawing on a controlled experiment comparing tangible Longevity Planning Blocks (LPBs) with immersive virtual LPBs on the Apple Vision Pro, we applied a mixed-methods approach to examine how artifact modality shapes future-oriented thinking. Artifact modality emerges as a critical design lever for longevity-oriented interventions. 

Bio:
Sheng-Hung Lee, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Urban Technology at the University of Michigan and Director of the d-mix lab. His work focuses on urban systems, service innovation, and Design for Longevity (D4L)—exploring how individuals, organizations, and societies navigate life transitions across services and systems. Trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lee’s doctoral research introduced a hybrid design-research framework that integrates constructivist grounded theory, causal loop diagrams, and design ethnography to examine behavioral and systemic dynamics in longevity planning. His work bridges human-centered design, systems thinking, and real world experimentation, connecting research with practice.