Brenda Laurel

Brenda Laurel is a designer, writer, researcher, and performer.

From 2002 to 2006, she chaired the graduate Media Design Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She was also a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems Labs from 2005 to 2006.

Since 1976, her work has focused on experience design, interactive story, and the intersection of culture and technology. She cofounded Purple Moon to create interactive media for girls in 1996 (acquired by Mattel in 1999). The company was based on four years of research in gender and technology at Interval Research Corporation. In 1990, she cofounded Telepresence Research, developing technology and applications for virtual reality and remote presence.

Other employers include Atari, Activision, and Apple. She edited The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design (Addison-Wesley, 1990) and authored Computers as Theatre (Addison-Wesley, 1991 and 1993) and Utopian Entrepreneur (MIT Press, 2001). Her latest book is Design Research: Methods and Perspectives (MIT Press, 2004).

She is active as a public speaker, consultant, and advisor to various academic institutions, organizations, and companies including the Ontario College of Art and Design, Addis Creson, and the Communication Research Institute (Australia).

She is active in the digital storytelling movement, the game design community, and various organizations that focus on interaction and experience design.