Dr. Ifat Keinan (Ph.D.)
Senior Lecturer and Design Researcher
Her research focuses on Inclusive Design and Participatory Design processes as a foundation for developing accessible practices and advancing health-related processes through design.
Her work is grounded in applied, field-based methodologies developed through years of collaboration with patients and healthcare professionals in medical institutions. In this context, she leads and facilitates co-design workshops and experiential learning processes that promote innovation within healthcare, social, and cultural contexts
Keinan, I., Nir, B., Adani, R., & Ventura, J. (2025). You always have to improvise: Physiotherapists’ perceptions of the use of objects they designed in therapeutic settings. Design for Health, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2025.2561291
Ventura, J., Adani, R., & Keinan, I. (2021). Improvising change: Adaptation, improvisation, and innovation in healthcare design. The International Journal of Design in Society, 15(2), 73
Ventura, J., Keinan-Guy, I. & Adani, R. (2019). Material Content Analysis: Analysing Improvisational Healthcare Design. SAGE Research Methods Cases (SAGE publications)
Ventura, J. and Keinan-Guy, I. (2018). Shadowing as a Central Research Method in Medical Design Anthropology. SAGE Research Methods Cases (SAGE publications)
Ventura, J. and Keinan-Guy, I. (2018). Design and Ageing at the Bloomsbury Design Library (Bloomsbury).
Participatory design methodologies
Inclusive design
Healthcare design
Design in rehabilitation contexts
Applied research in design
Ethics in design research
2024-present
Participation and Involvement of Children with ASD in Visual Impairment Diagnosis and Treatment: A multidisciplinary research project focusing on children with high-functioning autism in eye-care settings. In collaboration with Dr. Ayelet Noam-Rosenthal, Dr. Liat Gantz, Dr. Shani Oppenheim-Weller, Liran Elbaz Bloch, and Avi Faibish
Funded by the Margolis Foundation (2025)
2015-present
Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital: A series of theoretical and practical studies aimed at advancing rehabilitative processes through design. Applied research examining environmental and object-based interventions in rehabilitation
2008-2009
Bezalel Labs: Member of an interdisciplinary team examining linguistic and cultural barriers in the communication between therapists and patients. Conducted within a research framework led by Prof. Yaara Bar-On, in collaboration with Ra'eut Stern, Dr. Michal Shuster, and Dr. Yossefa Sartiel.
