Hello, I’m Clara Vieira Rodrigues, a designer, researcher, consultant, educator, and design activist. 🙂 I hold a Master of Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and an Executive Education in Management and Entrepreneurship from Porto Business School.

Eighteen years after founding and successfully growing Claan — a design and innovation studio and graduated company from the Creative Industries of the Science and Technology Park of University of Porto (UPTEC), with clients such as IKEA, Greenpeace, Clarks, Education First and Siemens — I founded DESIGNEDIN (D!N) in 2022, a social impact project dedicated to child-centred design, digital rights and the ethical integration of technology in children’s lives.

I work at the intersection of social innovation, child-centred design, and educational transformation. I am a Senior Experience Designer and UX consultant, specialised in child-centred design and technology. I am an Artificial Intelligence researcher at ID+ — the Research Institute in Design, Media and Culture of the University of Porto. I research child-centred AI and co-creation. Through D!N I develop projects and learning experiences such as KI-KreativClub, exploring how design and technology can support agency, participation, and meaningful change.

I am a columnist on child-centred design, digital literacy and tech parenting at PÚBLICO newspaper — where I first interned as an editorial designer back in 2003 — a mentor at NEW INC, the New Museum of Contemporary Art NY incubator for art, design and technology, and a passionate volunteer who founded the Portuguese chapter of the Designing for Children’s Rights global non-profit association.

I am a certified trainer by the Scientific-Pedagogical Council for Continuing Education. I have taught at the Institute of Education of the University of Minho and at the School of Architecture, Art and Design – UMinho Mais Digital, and delivered training on AI for creatives at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and on co-creation methodologies with AI at UPTEC. I have extensive experience in capacity-building for teachers and professionals across different fields, addressing topics such as creativity, design thinking, active methodologies, digital literacy and applied AI.

I studied interaction design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, lived in Vienna and freelanced at Siemens Austria, and in 2011 joined the International Acceleration Program Startup Chile, where I gave talks and classes on entrepreneurship and creativity at universities including Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. I am a native Portuguese speaker, fluent in English, German and Spanish. I am a keynote speaker at universities and international conferences, and was a finalist of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) 2023, an initiative of the US Embassy.

During the first lockdown in 2020, I gained a new perspective while deeply reflecting on my role as a designer, a mother, and an educator. With kindergarten closed, I used design methodologies and daily co-design activities with my child: we drew, built things, made stop-motion videos, and experimented with different materials, while I helped other parents online do fun and meaningful activities with kids.

By closely observing my daughter’s daily life, I started to realise that the world around her wasn’t designed with her best interests in mind. Sometimes she struggled to fit in — she couldn’t understand or interact with the city. This made me question: what might a world designed for children look like?

I’m genuinely interested in how design can enhance life and empower children, parents, designers, entrepreneurs, innovators, educators, communities, and society as a whole. Through intentional design I create meaningful solutions based on a kid’s and teen’s first approach.

Kids are the present and the future of great design

Children make up almost 30% of the world population and 100% of our future. They are active, creative, social agents and D!N believes in the power of design to uplift society and shape a future where they thrive.

My practice bridges theory and action through collaborative, future-facing approaches that connect design, technology, and social impact, with a strong commitment to children’s perspectives, care, and well-being.

Get in touch if you’d like to collaborate or schedule a consultation.