J. Paul Neeley
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J. Paul Neeley

American Designer and Researcher based in London. Dreaming of mountains, high desert plains, and endless horizons. Obsessed with complexity, happiness, and the future. Devastated by climate breakdown.

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Biography

J. Paul Neeley (b. 1978) is an American Designer & Researcher based in London. He has deep experience in Service Design, Speculative Design, Design Research, and Strategy.

J. Paul's design work explores the social, cultural, economic, and ethical implications of emerging technologies, designing speculative futures that help us engage with possibility as a way of reframing and understanding anew our current state. Recent projects have focused on happiness, healthcare and wellbeing, self quantification, social polarization and civility, future mobility, AI, synthetic biology, climate breakdown, and issues of complexity and computational irreducibility in design and business.

J. Paul is known for his advocacy of Speculative Design and its use in corporate settings to create meaningful impact, where he works with organizations to better understand the future impact of emerging technologies.

J. Paul is the creator of New Kind of Design, an essential philosophical framework to address complexity in design and decision making.

J. Paul consults in Service & Speculative Design at Neeley Worldwide where he help organizations to find opportunities for meaningful impact today through better understandings of future possibilities. J. Paul is the founder of Masamichi Souzou working on the optimization of happiness through the consideration of everything, the co-founder of Decarbonite a carbon-negative alternative to MDF, and he is the co-founder & Head of Design at Jadala a self-discovery engine focused on improving civil discourse and home of your Opinion DNA™.

J. Paul is the founder of the School of Critical Design along with Gemma Jones, which works to teach emerging methods to address critical issues facing humanity. J. Paul taught for 10 years as a tutor in Service Design at the Royal College of Art. In 2023 he left the RCA, publicly criticising the college's move away from studio models, and increases in course sizes and cutting tutor ratios. J. Paul has guest lectured at Imperial College, London Business School, RCA: Design Interactions, NYU: ITP, Köln International School of Design, RISD, and SVA: Design for Social Innovation.

J. Paul regularly speaks at conferences and inhouse events on topics like Speculative Design Normalization, New Kind of Design, the Optimization of Happiness.

J. Paul has worked professionally at Mayo Clinic's Center for Innovation as a Service Designer & Researcher focusing on the healthcare experience and delivery, at Teton Radiology as Service Design Manager realizing innovative medical imaging solutions, and at Unilever in Consumer & Market Insights for brand development.

J. Paul holds an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art with Distinction where he studied with Tony Dunne & Fiona Raby. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he studied Communications Studies with a concentration in Economics.

J. Paul is the oldest of 5 children, and grew up in small town Idaho, USA near Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, WY.  J. Paul now lives in London with his wife and two children. He is an accomplished cellist, and enjoys walking, swimming, naps, beaches, and playing with ideas.
Expertise
Service Design
Speculative Design
New Kind of Design
Design Research
Strategy

Experience

To date
  • Neeley Worldwide
    2009 - Present / London, UK
    Director
  • School of Critical Design
    2018 - Present / London, UK
    Co-founder
  • Jadala
    2020 - Present / London, UK
    Co-founder, Head of Design
  • Masamichi Souzou
    2011 - Present / London, UK
    Founder
  • Yossarian
    2011-2019 / London, UK
    Co-founder, CEO
  • RCA Service Design
    2011 - 2021 / London, UK
    Tutor & Lecturer
  • Mayo Clinic
    2007-2009 / Rochester, MN
    Service Designer & Researcher
  • Teton Radiology
    2005-2007 / Idaho Falls, ID
    Service Design Manager
  • Unilever
    2004-2005 / Chicago, IL
    Assistant Insight Manager

Activities

Selected Work, Talks, Lectures, Workshops, & Tutoring
WORK IN PROGRESS
  • Design Meditation
    (Personal & Professional Development Experience)
  • Omniana
    (Software)
  • Civic Happiness
    (Toolkit)
  • New Kind of Design
    (Book)
  • Rebellion
    (Online Course)
  • Opinion DNA
    (Holistic Cognitive Assessment)
2024
  • "Critical Implications"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
  • "Future Signals"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    Accenture _ London, UK
  • "Design Led Innovation"
    LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    RCA _ London, UK
2023
  • "Speculative Design Basics"
    SOCD _ London, UK
  • "Design Futures"
    ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART _ London, UK
  • "Decarbonite"
    THE GREENHOUSE _ London, UK
  • "Design Led Innovation"
    LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL _ London, UK
  • "Design Thinking"
    LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design"
    UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    RCA _ London, UK
2022
  • "New Kind of Design"
    DESIGN THINKING TALLINN _ Tallinn, EE
  • "Speculative Design"
    FUTURE LONDON ACADEMY_ London, UK
  • "Future Complexity"
    PI PEOPLE / FROG _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    WHATSAPP _ London, UK
  • "Vinnova Speculative Design Mentor"
    VINNOVA _ Stockholm, SE
  • "Design Thinking"
    LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL _ London, UK
  • "Service Prototyping in Healthcare"
    HORIZONS NHS _ London, UK
  • "Breakthrough applications of semiotics"
    SCI _ London, UK
2021
  • "Consider Everything"
    SERVICE DESIGN NETWORK _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design's Ethical Imperiative"
    CHILEAN DESIGN MONTH _ Santigo, CL
  • "Speculative Design Masterclass"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    SPECULATIVE FUTURES _ San Jose, CR
  • "Consider Everything"
    SPECULATIVE FUTURES _ Austin, TX
  • "Speculative Design Introduction"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
2020
  • "How to Design for Happiness in a Complex World"
    REDESIGN BUSINESS / LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    INTERACTIVE ARCITECTURE LAB UCL _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Introduction"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
  • "Design Meditation"
    SCHOOL OF CRITICAL DESIGN _ London, UK
  • "Designing Happiness"
    MASAMICHI SOUZOU _ London, UK
2019
  • "Storytelling"
    IMPERIAL COLLEGE / RCA _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    CLEVELAND CLINIC _ Cleveland, OH
  • "Future Experience Prototyping"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Consider Everything"
    RCA GRAND CHALLENGE _ UK
  • "Opimizing Happiness"
    TELEFONICA ALPHA _ Barcelona, ES
2018
  • "The Usability of Everything"
    DAIMLER _ Stuttgart, DE
  • "Speculative Design Normalization"
    VERY VERY FAR AWAY / LDF _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design"
    SERVICE DESIGN FUTURES / LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL _ London, UK
  • "Design Thinking for Startups"
    STARTUP BOOST _ London, UK
  • "Service Design Awards"
    CORE 77 _ London, UK
  • "The future of Reality, VR/AR"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Design Thinking & Service Design"
    DESIGN JAM : DESIGN FOR HEALTH / INNOVATION RCA _ London, UK
  • "Storytelling"
    IMPERIAL COLLEGE HCD _ London, UK
2017
  • "Service Design Foundations"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design"
    PUSH CONFERENCE _ Munich, DE
  • "Speculative Design and the Future of Cities"
    FUTURE CITIES CATAPULT _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design: Futures Prototyping for Research and Strategy"
    PRIMER _ San Francisco, USA
  • "Speculative Design: Futures Prototyping for Research and Strategy"
    PUSH _ Munich, DE
  • "nightnight.みんな"
    PRIMER _ San Francisco, USA
  • "Introduction to Design Thinking"
    MOOVEL LAB _ Stutgart, DE
  • "Future Experience Prototyping"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design: Futures Prototyping for Research and Strategy"
    IxDA INTERACTION 2017 _ New York City, USA
  • "Speculative Design: Exploration of Emerging Technology & Trends"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Design Research Planning"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
2016
  • "Speculative Design"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
  • "Speculative design and the future of UI"
    UXPA @FACEBOOK _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design: Futures Prototyping for Research and Strategy"
    MAYO CLINIC CENTER FOR INNOVATION _ Rochester, MN
  • "nightnight.みんな Improving world health by putting the web to sleep"
    MAYO CLINIC TRANSFORM _ Rochester, MN
  • "Speculative Design: Futures Prototyping for Research and Strategy"
    EPIC _ Minneapolis, MN
  • "Speculative Future Mobility"
    KISD + MOOVEL LAB _ Köln, DE
  • "New Kind of Design"
    KÖLN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF DESIGN _ Köln, DE
  • "Speculative Design"
    SERVICE DESIGN SALON RCA _ London, UK
  • "Design Ethics and a New Kind of Design"
    SERVICE DESIGN SALON RCA _ London, UK
  • "Google Kills Creativity"
    SOHO HOUSE TALKS _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design"
    FASHIONING HUMANITY RCA _ London, UK
  • "Speculative Design Goes to Market"
    DESIGN INTERACTIONS RCA _ London, UK
  • "Persona & Journey"
    SERVICE DESIGN RCA _ London, UK
2015
  • "New Kind of Design"
    HfG _ Schwäbisch Gmünd, DE
  • "Speculative Future Mobility"
    MOOVEL LAB _ Stutgart, DE
  • "Augmented Creativity"
    CITY UNIVERSITY _ London, UK
  • "The future of Creative Search"
    HCID OPEN / CITY INTERACTION LAB _ London, UK
  • "Metaphorical Search"
    UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD _ Oxford, UK
  • "The power of metaphor"
    MAKING LONDON _ Greenwich, UK
  • "The Future of Creative Search"
    DIGITAL SHORDITCH _ London, UK
  • "Augmented Creativity: Man Vs Machine"
    ADVERTISING WEEK _ London, UK
2014
  • "Augmented Creativity"
    City University _ London, UK
  • "Can a search engine make you more creative?"
    FAST COMPANY _ London, UK
  • "The search engine with metaphorical results"
    BBC _ London, UK
  • "I Tried to Make a Search Engine Write Me a Poem"
    NEW YORK TIMES _ New York City, USA
  • "True Beauty"
    TOUCHPOINT / THE SERVICE DESIGN JOURNAL _ Cologne, DE
  • "Startup as critique"
    DESIGN INTERACTIONS RCA _ London, UK
  • "Ideen per Mausklick"
    WIRED _ Berlin, DE
2013
  • "Creative Search"
    SHUFFLE / ESSANCE _ London, UK
  • "Google Kills Creativity"
    TECHNOLOGY IS EVIL / CREATIVE SOCIAL _ London, UK
  • "Consider Everything"
    PECHA KUCHA / EPIC _ London, UK
  • "This is Not a Pipe"
    ARTIFACT SESSION / EPIC _ London, UK
  • "Make it count"
    DESIGN FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION / SVA _ New York City, USA
  • "Gaia Corporation"
    STRANGER THAN FICTION / SB6 _ London, UK
  • "Metaphorical Search"
    VISUALIZING IDEAS / GETTY IMAGES _ London, UK
  • "Google and the future of search"
    THE OBSERVER _ London, UK
2012
  • "Designing for happiness in a complex world"
    TRANSFORM _ Rochester, MN
  • "New Kind of Design"
    THE SIMPLICITY ISSUE / MISC _ San Francisco, CA
  • "Honouring patient's resuscitation wishes"
    BMJ QUALITY & SAFETY _ London, UK
  • "The Future of Search"
    VAUXHALL AMPERA FORETHOUGHT x WIRED _ London, UK
  • "Yossarian Lives" Winner Startup Competition
    THINKING DIGITAL _ Newcastle, UK
  • "Search the metaphorical Google with Yossarian Lives"
    WIRED _ London, UK
  • "Innovation Night with Will.I.Am"
    ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART _ London, UK
  • "Metaphorical search engine finds creative new meanings"
    NEW SCIENTIST _ London, UK
  • "Yossarian Lives" Finalist
    SEEDCAMP _ London, UK
2011
  • "Speculative Design"
    HITACHI _ Rochester, MN
  • "Yossarian Lives" Winnner
    INNOVATION RCA / WAVE V _ London, UK
  • "Designing for Happiness in a Complex World"
    GOOGLE DESIGN LECTURE / LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL _ London, UK
  • "Designing for Happiness in a Complex World"
    GOOGLE DESIGN LECTURE / LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL _ London, UK
  • "Masamichi Souzou"
    DESIGN ON THE DOCK / THE FLOATING CINEMA _ London, UK
  • "Designing for Happiness in a Complex World"
    CENTER FOR INNOVATION / MAYO CLINIC _ London, UK
  • "Masamichi Souzou"
    SHOW / ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART _ London, UK
  • "Yossarian Lives" Winner
    DEUTSCHE BANK AWARD _ London, UK
  • "Design Thinking / New Kind of Design"
    IDEO _ London, UK
  • "Design Thinking"
    SCHOOL OF DESIGN THINKING / HASSO-PLATNER INSTITUTE _ Potsdam, DE
  • "Gaia Corporation" Keynote
    ALTER NATURE: OWNING LIFE / Z33 _ Hasselt, BE
  • "Future of Smoking"
    WORK IN PROGRESS / ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART _ London, UK
2010
  • "Speculative Design"
    CENTER FOR INNOVATION / MAYO CLINIC _ Rochester, MN
  • "Gaia Corporation"
    IDEO _ Shanghai, CN
  • "TW+"
    NIKE 78 _ London, UK
  • "Gaia Corporation"
    CENTRE FOR SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY AND INNOVATION / IMPERIAL COLLEGE _ London, UK
  • "Gaia Corporation"
    COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY / SynBioNT _ Nottingham, UK
  • "Dancing Cream"
    CUSTOM MADE / BARBACAN _ London, UK
  • "Possibilities"
    WIP / ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART _ London, UK
2009
  • "Hospital Communication"
    ARTIFACT SESSION / EPIC _ Chicago, IL
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