I am an Assistant Professor (biträdande lektor) in interaction design and ethics, at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden.
I do qualitative and participatory research, focusing on ethics in digital design practice. In addition to research, I also teach human-computer interaction (HCI), for example ethics in interaction design, prototyping, and visual design in UX design.
I do qualitative and participatory research, focusing on ethics in digital design practice, co-designing design ethics with practitioners. I am inspired by participatory action research as well as communities of practice and inquiry.
🔗 List of publications (at Google Scholar)
I strive to produce concrete and practice-led outputs for cultivating ethics in practice. These are examples of such work, developed through research and related collaborative initiatives.
These slides provide a structure for exploring and becoming ethical together. By doing this, participants can create common visions of what ethically responsible design means and how to get there. The workshop is intended to be simple and easily adaptable, to fit with design practice, to foster curiosity and collaboration around ethics, and to kick-start the cultivation of more ethical design based on matters that participants themselves understand and care about.
Design briefs are commonly used in design practice by groups/teams, collaboratively unpacking the problem and solution space. This brief is thus a familiar format but in an unfamiliar realm – the realm of ethics. It asks the question “How might we raise awareness of ethically responsible design?”
This work originated from the need of the public sector and business to collaborate with civil society, as well as the need of civil society and social entrepreneurs to drive needs-based processes. The guide contains an introduction to co-creation as a process and contributes reflective questions about purposes, ethics and responsibility. The guide is only available in Swedish.
Stockholm University, Sweden (2024)
📘 My PhD Thesis Design Ethics at Work advocates for a recognition of ethics in design as both a critical and urgent matter that requires proactive attention, and presents concepts and toolkits co-designed with practitioners for cultivating design ethics at work. The thesis proposes that by approaching ethics as a collective effort, ethical knowledge and practice can be effectively developed through joint inquiry. This community-focused framing can support collective sense-making as well as meaningful change-making of ethical practice in the design industry.
Umeå University, Sweden (2017)
Stockholm University, Sweden (2008)
Researching and teaching ethics in practice with my project Collective Matters.
Teaching and research in interaction design, including course development, assisting with grant applications, and organizing research workshops.
Researched ethics in interaction design practice. Developed and taught courses on ethics, prototyping, and visual design.
Led service design and UX projects from strategy to delivery. Managed project planning and client relationships.
Worked on strategy, user research, testing, service design, and UX for clients.
Conducted user research, interaction and visual design, frontend coding, and user testing for digital experiences.
Improved IT system usability and led communication eff orts, including user research, testing, and designing support materials. Led marketing eff orts and was part of the IT department's leadership team.
Led strategy, client relations, budgeting, and team coordination for digital design projects.
Started off as frontend developer, then worked as a UX designer and project manager.
My teaching in higher education began in 2007, when I developed and taught a course in web development, web design, and project management while completing my first bachelor’s degree at the Department of Applied Communication, now part of Stockholm Business School. Since 2018, when I started my PhD studies at DSV, I have taught at both bachelor’s and master’s levels across topics such as ethics, visual design, prototyping, and qualitative methods, typically working with classes of 30–200 students. I work closely with colleagues and students to support a collaborative learning environment, engaging in ongoing discussions about course design, assessment practices, and continuous improvement throughout each course.
Selected teaching experience
Supervision
I have had the opportunity to supervise numerous bachelor’s thesis projects during my time at Stockholm University, working with ambitious students on a diverse range of topics, such as ethics, female leadership, and interactive installations. So far, I have served as the main supervisor for four theses and co-supervised an additional three. For the spring semester of 2026, I have two more thesis supervisions ongoing.
Course development & teaching materials
I have contributed to course development through refining materials, shaping course structures, and introducing industry perspectives via design briefs, project kickoffs, and workshops used across several courses. I have participated in course planning for all courses I teach on, and serve as course director for the Visual Design course. I have developed a range of reusable teaching materials, including flipped-classroom videos, Figma prototypes, compendiums, design briefs, Miro boards, shared slide decks, and a guide for supervising bachelor thesis first meetings. Across all courses, I prioritize materials that are easy to adapt and reuse, supporting both student learning and future teaching.
🇸🇪 Swedish – Native proficiency
🇬🇧 English – Fluent
🇩🇪 German – Basic proficiency
🇫🇷 French – Basic proficiency
My experience spans both academic and industry settings. In academia, I have served on boards, led a student union, and taken part in departmental leadership groups. In industry, as a project manager and design lead, I have managed budgets, timelines, and teams. Combined, these experiences give me a strong foundation of leadership, collaboration, and strategic planning to contribute to academic administration, curriculum development, and research.
Sharon Lindberg, PhD
I am open for research collaborations, guest lecturing, or just a coffee and a chat! sharon@dsv.su.se