Exploring digital systems from a humanistic perspective
I’m Peter Dalsgaard, Professor of Interaction Design at Aarhus University. I explore digital technologies from a human-centered perspective with a focus on how humans use technology to think and create in new ways. I develop theories to understand these processes, collaborate with external partners in industry and public organisations to study real-life cases, and co-develop new digital tools and systems to gain new knowledge about their implications in practice.
My profiles: Aarhus University | Google Scholar | Twitter | Linkedin. Contact: +45 20652942 | dalsgaard@cavi.au.dk
News and recent publications
[Apr 10]: Keynote speaker at NNU’25: “Creative Computers? When Human Creativity Meets AI“
[Mar 10 ’25]: Honourable mention award for our ACM CHI 2025 paper: Katrin Heimann, Minke Nouwens, Suneetha Saggurthi & Peter Dalsgaard: “Micro-Phenomenology as a Method for Studying User Experience in Human-Computer Interaction“.
[Feb 25 ’25]: Paper accepted for the ACM CHI 2025 Workshop on Tools for Thought: Peter Dalsgaard, 2025: “Generative AI as a Tool for Creative Cognition in Design“.
[Dec 10 ’24]: Presenting full paper at ACM OzCHI 2025: Jonas Frich, Jens Emil Grønbæk, Marcel Borowski & Peter Dalsgaard, 2024: “Exploring the impact of AI features on collaborative creativity“.
[Feb 21 25]: Article accepted ACM TOCHI; Emilia Rosselli del Turco, Nanna Inie, James D. Hollan & Peter Dalsgaard. “How Creative Practitioners Use Tools to Capture Ideas: A Cross-Domain Study“.
[Oct 23 ’24]: Keynote speaker at Region Midt Innovationsdag: “Kreativitetsmaskinen”.
[Oct 24 ’24]: Funding awarded by the Danish Independent Research Foundation for the 3-year project “Experimental Surprise: Pursuing Unexpectedness in Scientific and Artistic Practices“.
[June 20 ’24]: Full paper presented at ACM Creativity & Cognition: Emilia Rosselli del Turco & Peter Dalsgaard. 2024. “”My ideas come little by little”: how graphic professionals manage ideas“.
Current projects
CoCreate
Studying the benefits and shortcomings of digital tools used in collaborative creative work. Read more on the project website.
Managing Ideas in Creative Work
Examining the role and nature of tools that designers use to capture, manage, and develop ideas, specifically in the domain of design. Read more on the project website.
Reinvent
Creating a participatory platform for communities to develop, discuss and present best- practice examples of solutions for how to rethink society after the COVID-19 lockdown. Read more on the project website.
PLACED
Developing digital services to help libraries transform into vibrant urban innovation hubs by supporting knowledge creation activities among citizens and turning this knowledge into an ever-growing part of the urban community’s shared resources. Read more on the project website
Experimenting, Experiencing, Reflecting
A collaboration between science and art led to examine perception, decision-making, action, notions of togetherness, collaboration, and the transmission of knowledge. Read more on the project website
Human-Centered Information Spaces
Envisioning a future in which the existing world of documents and applications is linked to multiscale personalized information spaces that behave in accordance with the context and history of activity. Read more on the project website
Short bio
Full professor of Interaction Design at Aarhus University.
Founder and co-director of the Centre for Digital Creativity.
Currently principal investigator of the projects CoCreate, PLACED, Creative Tools, and Reinvent.
My profiles elsewhere: Aarhus University | Google Scholar | Twitter | Linkedin
Contact: dalsgaard@cavi.au.dk
For prospective students
I am currently accepting new Masters and PhD students, particularly in the topics of interaction design, digital tools in creativity and innovation, participatory design, design processes, and the interplay between digital and physical phenomena in Human-Computer Interaction. Please email me at dalsgaard[at]cavi.au.dk, sending a CV and a project outline, if you’re interested in supervision or mentoring, possibly in connection to one of our current projects