Anyone At Home celebrates the lived experience of design.
It was developed as design research platform dedicated to exploring the integral role of design in our daily lives and homes.
Recognizing that our homes are more than mere showcases, it delves into how personal spaces evolve amidst ever-changing political, economic, sociological, and technological landscapes.
Anyone At Home explores how and where design is part of people’s lives – and home.
We have lived a life before today – and hopefully a life after tomorrow.
More than just a showpiece, our home is a place were we live day to day.
It is the centre of our life already lived through different lifestages and changes in our personal circumstances.
Our ‘home’ is the one place/space we ‘make’ our own It is the one space where we can truly be ourselves and where we can express our creativity, interests and lifestyle.
‘Home’ means different things to different people. And so…
No-one knows our home as we know it.
No-one sees our home as we see it.
Interviews
Everyone has a story to tell.
Everyone has a voice.
In the Interviews section people share the intimate of their story of home.
It offers an unvoiced glimpse into people’s homes, capturing their unique journeys
and the factors that have influenced their design choices. These personal accounts collectively provide a rich tapestry of contemporary lifestyles -offering readers a chance to see, listen, and think more deeply about the spaces we inhabit.
Each of these accounts contributes to a wider range of personal stories of lived experience.
When viewed together this provides a unique insight into contemporary lifestyles and ways of living.
Through a combination of words and images this website documents a private space/ place/world that few people will ever see, or know, and the context in which those design decisions were made.
The Interviews section also features charities and agencies that work at grass roots level to offer people a home, a service or support helping people with the immediacy of basic needs through difficult times.
Insights
Design plays a hidden yet integral role in our daily life. It permeates every facet of human existence, influencing our thoughts, actions, and interactions
within various environments.
Effective design not only shapes our surroundings but also inspires and enables individuals to lead enriched lives.
The Insights section delves into broad, far-flung ideas, thoughts and bigger themes and questions. that emerge from our interviews to discuss
ideas and pose questions that encourage further exploration.
Who Is This For?
Anyone At Home is an open resource for anyone interested in lived experience and experiential design.
Across many disciplines it serves as a resource to highlight blurred issues and themes related to ageing, health, lifestyle, geography and changes in personal circumstances.
Avenues for further research…
Design is about shaping what we want, need and have. Here, is about how that all comes together in one space, the space we call home.
Real-world problems require actionable outcomes.
Through sharing these stories I hope to inspire thoughtful design research that truly reaches out, and resonates.
These stories highlight an opportunity for others (in marketing, business, design or health) to develop and test lived experience in more detail to deliver targeted outcomes.
This site uniquely uses visual and oral data to connect the physical environment to the richness of an individual’s life experience. It is a lens not just into a space and a place, but to someone’s life at a moment in time.
These are their words. This is their home.
My hope is that these stories will inspire others, spark ideas, develop understanding, widen connections, dispel myths and fill existing gaps in our knowledge of home.
I would like to thank everyone who participated in this project. These individuals kindly let me into their lives and homes so I could share this with you.
People × Society × Home × Design
BIO
Nuala Rooney, PhD, FHEA
Dr Nuala Rooney is an independent human-centred design research consultant based in Northern Ireland.
Dr. Nuala Rooney, the founder of Anyone At Home, is a pioneering human-centered design researcher with over 25 years of expertise in higher education and design consultancy. My work bridges the gap between academic rigour and creative exploration, focusing on the human stories that shape design
solutions.
From my groundbreaking research on high-density living to her award-winning film, “A Thousand Pieces of Gold,” I am a champion of understanding design as a
reflection of human life and passionate about fostering conversations that inspire empathy, creativity, and a deeper appreciation for the spaces we inhabit.
My research actively positions and develops new ways of looking at, and thinking about, the context of design. It focuses on people and space in the real world.
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Association (FHEA) and have held appointments as External Examiner for academic institutions across the UK, New Zealand and Ireland. I have been a judge at many prestigious design competitions including the UA Design Awards and Asia-Pacific Interior Design Awards (APIDA)
Anyone At Home is a radical approach to design and design research.
Life stories help us to see, listen, and think more about the questions, problems and solutions that affect people everyday.
In a fast-changing world it is essential that know what people truly think and how they experience everyday life. If we are to understand the world, not just as we see it – but as others see it, that requires bespoke, flexible and alternative ways of looking and listening.
Whether you are in business, industry, education or health, or If you are simply looking to foster conversations that inspire empathy, creativity and responsive human centred insights, please get in touch. I’d be delighted to work with you.
If you wish to use the images or text (for which I hold the copyright ©) please contact me for permission.
Please contact me on: Email: nuala@anyoneathome.com