Personal Statement
Dr Hao-Ming (Guo-Bin) Xia is an Asst. Prof. in Product Design in the School of Engineering at the University of Liverpool, where he leads the Design4Life Research Group (or Design4Life Liverpool Page). His research explores how design can enable technologies to better understand human experience by integrating design research with immersive technologies, physiological sensing, and artificial intelligence. He develops methods that translate human experiences into actionable design knowledge for creating more intelligent, inclusive, and responsible technologies.

His research spans digital health, human–AI interaction, digital heritage, and more-than-human design, united by a common goal of understanding how people experience, interact with, and are supported by emerging technologies. Working across academia, healthcare, industry, museums, and the public sector, he develops evidence-based approaches that connect fundamental design research with real-world impact. Dr Xia is recognised for pioneering research on colour–cognitive performance in extended reality (XR), establishing a new interdisciplinary area linking colour science, cognition, immersive technologies, and experience design. This work has informed his broader research programme on human-centred and data-informed design.

Alongside his research, Dr Xia has held a range of academic leadership roles, including Programme Leader, Course Leader, Admissions Lead, and PGR Lead, contributing to curriculum development, undergraduate and postgraduate education, academic quality enhancement, and research supervision. He also received UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor status in 2026.

Dr Xia has published extensively in leading AHCI-, SCI-, and SSCI-indexed journals and has secured competitive research funding across immersive technologies, digital health, digital heritage, colour science, and design research. Beyond his own research, he serves as Chief Editor of Designing Neurodivergent Futures, Review Editor for Frontiers in Imaging (Imaging Applications), and reviews research proposals for the AHRC, EPSRC, and the InterAct Peer Review College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Research Overview
My research examines how design shapes human experience, understanding, and responsibility across physical, digital, and immersive contexts. It is structured around key dimensions of human–design relations, focusing on perception and embodied experience, sense-making in data-driven and intelligent systems, and the role of design in care, meaning, and long-term futures.